A Child At Prayer
by anonymityofaturtle
Summary: (Post Avengers 2012) Six months after the events of the Chitauri invasion, Odin sentences Loki to stay on Earth under the watchful eye of the Avengers as punishment. Forced to do good, Loki fights his verdict every step of the way. It's only until an experiment with the Tesseract that changes everything.
1. Terms of Punishment

A/N: Guess what idiot came up with another story?! This one right here! So now… I'm juggling four stories. I need an intervention; I have a problem.

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**Chapter One:** Terms of Punishment

Six months ago, New York was devastated by the Chitauri invasion led by Loki. The death toll was estimated in the thousands; the numbers were still rising. Things were far from being back to normal. It was slow, but the restoration was progressing in bringing the city back to life.

As for Loki, he was brought back to Asgard to be tried for his crimes. The trial was long and heated. The evidence was overwhelming against him. When the deliberation was about to start, Thor was there to bargain for a lighter sentence. Whether or not Loki was found guilty, he believed his brother was not of the right mind to be considered sane under the events. Thor listed off countless times Loki has struggled

Shockingly, Thor's pleads did lighten the sentence. Instead of isolation for eternity, Loki was given the chance to redeem himself.

But the case wasn't all that simple. Odin sentenced Loki to be held on Earth as a prisoner to the Avengers. There, he would make up for the casualties and destruction he caused by whatever means the Avengers deemed fit.

At first, the Avengers were against it. They- and all of Earth for that matter- didn't want the god anywhere near them. Thor, on the other hand, was for it. He wanted his brother to have a chance to turn his life around. If that means Loki is a servant to his team, so be it. Thor wasn't concerned about Loki's well-being with them. He trusted his teammates.

While Loki was held in the prisons of Asgard, the fight to where he'll end up continued. Thor desperately tried to convince his friends this was a good idea. If he couldn't do that, Odin said that Loki would be forced to stay in the prisons forever. And of course, Thor would never want that.

In the end, the Avengers agreed to the terms, on one exception. If they take Loki, they were allowed to keep the Tesseract to study it. Tony and Bruce were very intrigued by the cube and its power. They thought if they could harness it, it could help them protect the Earth from future alien invasions.

So, unfortunately, with the Tesseract, came Loki. Before Loki's arrival, Tony built a cell for him out of one of his spare suites at the Avengers tower. He originally wanted to just stick the mischievous god in a metal box, but one look from Thor changed his mind. So, Loki got a decent living arrangement from it. That was the only perk that came for him. There were plenty more things in place to ensure the god could cause trouble. In Asgard, Loki was forced to wear a pair of magic-inhibiting bands around his wrists and ankles. All of which used strong enchantments to link together as restraints, if necessary. These binds will be forced to stay on him on Midgard as well.

This was all three months ago. Presently, Loki was now situated in the tower under the careful eye of the Earth's Mightiest Heroes. Unfortunately, not all the heroes were present at the tower. Both Black Widow and Hawkeye were not stationed at Avengers tower as of late. They had been pulled by Fury to help in the recovering of any alien tech left on Earth after the attack. That meant the only ones residing in the tower were Steve, Bruce, and Tony.

If it made any difference, Thor was always there. Part of Thor's bargain with Loki's lighter sentence was that he would stay with his brother on Earth and serve as his keeper. Which wasn't too much of a bother for the thunder god since he planned on staying on Midgard anyway. He, along with the other Avengers, helped with the projects of rebuilding the city- both physically and politically.

As far as who knows Loki is imprisoned on Earth at the tower, it's only the Avengers- minus Clint and Natasha. The team has yet to decide whether or not to notify Fury and SHIELD their new resident war criminal. Problem was, Fury wouldn't give a damn about Odin's sentence for Loki's redemption. They knew if SHIELD were to find out, they would take Loki by force, possibly try to kill him. No one would really care- except Thor. So, of course, Thor wasn't going to let that happen.

So far, Loki has yet to prove himself redeemable. The trickster has made it his mission to make the Avengers lives a living hell. Unfortunately for him, it was harder to do than expected. The Avengers never let him out of the cell, much to Thor's dismay. Loki's room was under 24/7 watch of JARVIS. So instead, he tried to cause subtle chaos within his walls. His latest attempt was to try to escape by blowing up a hole in his bathrooms wall. To this day, none of them know how he did it. Loki enjoyed the fun while it lasted until the punishment came. Now, the bathroom door was locked at all times and he needed to be supervised if he wanted to use it.

With slowly getting his freedom stripped away, Loki started to rebel more violently. Multiple times he's tried to attack Thor when his brother delivered his meals to him. Or when he'd grow frustrated and have tantrums, followed by throwing objects; in turn, the objects were never replaced. It was a blessing that Loki was forced to wear the cuffs- restraining him was a lot easier.

All this proves that Loki wasn't the most stable creature. He was more of a psychotic, ticking time-bomb than a god. Loki could range from sarcastic and oddly polite, to violent and downright crazy. It all depended on Loki's mood that day… or week. Loki once tried to go on a hunger strike. It lasted a week before they finally intervened. The end result was Loki being held down while being force-fed through a tube. After that, he never tried it again.

On those very bad days, the Avengers sometimes regretted their deal. However, they knew the Tesseract was too important to go back on. Tony and Bruce didn't make much progress in studying it. The energy signature of it often shorted out any of Tony's equipment he put onto it.

If this indeed had power over space, their theory was to be able to create a wormhole to prevent dangerous pivotal moments from happening; for example, the Chitauri attack. So far, it seemed like it was going to take a while for that. Nonetheless, Tony and Bruce didn't give up trying.

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Loki sat on his bed flipping through one of his books. Thor was sneaky enough to return to Asgard and retrieve some of Loki's belongings, books, and clothes. Although never going to say it, Loki was thankful. He dreaded the thought of having to wear Midgardian clothing. Thor didn't bring any of his brother's regal wear, but at least a supply of tunics, trousers, and under-dressings was sufficient.

It was very boring as of late, the whole bathroom shenanigans really made them mad. Now he was paying for it in boredom and loss of bathroom privileges.

The god threw down his book in frustration and begin to pace. With no windows in his room, it made his cabin-fever worse. Sure, he had an amazing room: from a king-sized bed to a sofa with a coffee table and lamp (lamp was destroyed in a tantrum), and a small table and chairs for dining. This was luxury compared to the dark, dreary prisons of Asgard.

Before he could wear a hole in the floor from the pacing, he stopped to the sound of a knock at the door.

"Loki, it's me."

_Thor.._. Loki muttered to himself.

JARVIS slid open the bullet-proof, metal door and allowed Thor to slip inside before locking it behind him. His older brother was carrying a tray with him- Loki's supper.

"Good evening, brother!" Thor smiled, setting down the tray at the small table by the door, "How do you fair?"

"Bored," Loki responded bluntly.

Thor shrugged off his brother's bad mood and sat down on one of the two chairs at the table. He grabbed the plates and silverware off the tray and started to set the table. Of course, Loki had to use paper plates and plastic utensils. An incident with a butter knife was all it took to change it to that.

"Captain Rogers outdid himself tonight," Thor said enthusiastically, "I thought I'd sneak you some and we can feast together!"

Loki frowned, "I highly doubt that mortal could make anything edible…"

"You'd be surprised. The Captain is quite resourceful."

Thor pulled up the metal dome covering the tray to reveal the meal. It was two sizzling, juicy steaks glazed in a mushroom sauce. They were mashed potatoes piled high next to them, also coated in the same thick gravy. It was all sided with steamed vegetables and bread.

The smell hit Loki like a brick wall, his mouth immediately started watering. They usually forced him to have some cheap TV dinner. Loki refused to eat them at first, but obviously, that didn't end well. He ended up having to pick at it and stomach as much as he could, which wasn't a lot. But this… this was something he hasn't had in who knows how long- actual subsidence.

"Come join me, Loki!" Thor gestured to the other chair, "I brought plenty!"

Loki had to force his eyes away from the meal. It was all too tempting. Even his stomach tried to reason with him to eat it.

"I do not need your pity food."

"Nonsense, brother! You are too thin," Thor frowned, "You must eat."

"I don't recall you becoming our mother."

"No, but as your brother, I care about your well-being as well."

Loki opened his mouth to say something cruel back, but Thor beat him to it.

"Must we repeat the process we were forced to do last week."

The trickster's memory flashed back to that feeding tube. An invisible shiver ran up his spine at the very thought of it. He'd rather not have that happen again.

Loki muttered under his breath and gave into his brother's commands. He was mad, but secretly excited, to eat something that wasn't overly processed goop. Once Loki started to come, Thor's face lit up. Ever since coming back to Midgard, he's been worried sick about his younger brother. Clearly not in the best mental health, Thor feared the isolation in this room might worsen it. He made it his goal to visit Loki as much as possible. Sometimes that proved difficult with his Avenger duties, but he always came in at least three times to deliver his meals.

Once his brother sat down, Thor immediately started to pile Loki's plate high with food. It was an absurd amount that in no way Loki could ever eat. Thor then served himself the same potion. No sooner were they situated, did the thunder god start digging in.

Loki was more hesitant to eat the food. At first, he thought it might be poisoned, but obviously, Thor was eating it too. He slowly picked up his plastic fork and scooped up some of the mashed potatoes. Loki gave one more look at his brother out of nerves. Thor was far too busy scarfing down his meal. Wrinkling his nose in disgust, Loki shoved the fork in his mouth quickly to get it over with. He had to hold himself back not to moan in delight as the gravy-covered potatoes filled his senses. Loki immediately went back for a second bite, then another. He didn't even realize he was being watched as he continued to try everything on his plate.

"Seems like you don't think Rogers cooking is all that bad now, do you?" Thor laughed.

Loki almost choked on his mouthful of steak. He struggled to swallow it as he looked to Thor. His older brother had far finished his meal by now. He sat with his elbows on the table, leaning his chin on his laced fingers, smiling wryly at his brother.

Trying his best to not get embarrassed, Loki immediately looked away and wiped his face with his napkin.

"… his cooking is adequate," He mumbled.

"Well good, I'm happy to see you interested in a meal for once."

Thor's annoying, caring attitude was really ruining Loki's appetite.

"I'd be more interested if I wasn't lock in this room…" the younger god responded back.

This was a common response to anything positive Thor would say. Loki was forever bitter about the circumstances he was under.

Thor sighed, "Loki, you know all of this is out of my control. Father-"

"Your father," Loki was fast to correct.

Thor took another deep breath, trying to keep his cool. This was a losing conversation.

"Very well. Odin delivered the sentence. Though I fought hard to make it more pleasant."

"Pleasant?" Loki scoffed, "I hardly find this pleasant."

"Is this not enough for you, brother?!" Thor raised his voice and gestured to the room, "You have clothing, a bed, your own personal bathing chambers, and hot meals?!"

"All while confined to a room under lock and key…" The younger god added.

"I would allow you out of this room if I trusted you!"

Loki raised his brow, slightly surprised.

"You would?"

"Of course, I would," Thor repeated, "That is my wish!"

Loki rolled his eyes at Thor's "wish".

"Truly, brother," the older god said, "My goal is to help you redeem yourself and join me and the Avengers in protecting the Midgard."

Thor was thrown off by a cynical laugh from Loki.

"You really think I'd want to become part of your insufferable group of mortals who think they can save the nine realms all on their own?"

"I don't see why not?"

"I think you have forgotten my past doings. Why would any of them even want my help?"

Thor thought for a second.

"Maybe with the Tesseract?"

The very thought of the cube perked Loki's interest he wanted the Tesseract. Not just to escape, but for its power.

"Stark and Dr. Banner have been working on harnessing the power of the Tesseract," Thor said, "So far it has proven difficult."

Loki smirked.

"These men think they could control a self-sustainable, pure energy source using their primitive Midgardian technology? Pathetic."

"I thought I could approach them with the idea of you helping them."

"My help?"

"Yes, you know more about these items and their magic more than anyone else,"

"How do you know I just won't take it and flee?"

"Do you forget you are bound with unbreakable Uru metal that blocks your magic?"

Loki did indeed forget about that for a second. Only the power of Odin, and maybe Thor, could remove them. Any disobedience or attempts of calling his Seidr would set off an electromagnet charge through the binds. Loki has learned this time and time again with his tricks and outbursts.

"Very well. Let us stop it here," Thor said, "I will clean up here and allow you to ready yourself for bed. JARVIS?"

-_Right away, sir._\- JARVIS obliged and the door to the bathroom slid open on command.

Pushing up out of the chair, Loki was still deep in thought from Thor's suggestion. Whether or not Loki could help them wasn't his goal. The god just really wanted out of his room. Still plagued with dreams and flashbacks of his time in the Void with the Other, enclosed spaces were anxiety-inducing. It was torture nonetheless for him.

"Is everything alright, brother?"

Thor's voice brought Loki out of his thoughts. He found himself still standing at the table, hands curled up in tight fists. His brother was still sitting across from him with a worried expression.

"Everything is fine," Loki replied, quickly turning on his heel to go into the bathroom.

Loki couldn't shake off the feelings of the Void. As soon as he got to the sink, he immediately turned on the faucet and splashed his face several times. As long as he keeps busy, those memories stay away. It's easier said than done when you're locked in a room by yourself all day.

After brushing his teeth and relieving himself, Loki exited the bathroom. Thor had already finished gathering the plates back on the tray and was waiting patiently for Loki to emerge.

"Are you finished?" The older god asked politely.

Loki fought the urge not to turn red in embarrassment. Having to now ask to go to the bathroom was extremely demeaning.

"…yes," he grumbled.

No sooner did Loki respond; JARVIS locked the bathroom door.

Thor smiled and got up out of his seat. Picking up the tray of food, he made his way to the door.

"I enjoyed dining with you tonight," he said turning around to face his little brother, "I have missed having our time together."

"You live too far in the past, brother."

"Maybe I do. But do you blame me? Those were cherished times."

"I don't know if I would call them that…"

"Would you like for me to join you again in the morning to 'break of the fast'?"

"If that means I don't have to eat slop, I suppose I can tolerate your company."

"I am happy to hear that, brother," Thor grinned, "I will make sure to bring good food again next time. You could use more meat on you."

Loki just scoffed, crossing his arms. His older brother chuckled. Before he left, Thor turned back around.

"Please think about my proposition with aiding my friends with the Tesseract."

He bid Loki goodnight and disappeared out the door. This left the younger god alone again in his room… his cell. It was odd for him to feel exhausted from doing nothing all day. He assumed it was just the comfort of a good meal that made him sleepy. Deciding against reading for a bit, Loki just decided to go to bed.

He pulled off his tunic and kicked off his trousers. Planning on just sleeping his undershorts, he picked up the fallen clothes and draped them neatly over a nearby chair. The bed was looking more and more inviting by the second. It was far better than the lumpy cot in the prisons of Asgard. Once again, he begrudgingly was thankful for Thor's overly protective care. Loki eased down comfortably onto the bed. He snuggled down deep within the layers of silk sheets and blankets. The warmth was inviting as JARVIS slowly dimmed the lights for him.

Considering Thor's proposition, Loki wasn't sure about how to take it. Clearly, the Tesseract was the key to escape. However, Thor was right… only he could get his magic-binding cuffs off. Loki realized he needed to gain their trust. If he proved himself, there was a possibility they'll remove them. In theory, it all seemed easy; in reality, that seems impossible. No one's going to trust the God of Lies and Mischief.

_Desperate times call for desperate measures._

Whether or not the plan will work, the god had to try it. If he succeeds, then from there he'll figure out what to do next. Until then, Loki had to suck it up and obey the Avengers, in turn, gaining their trust. He knows it won't be easy with his- sometimes uncontrollable- Silvertongue, but the end result is what he'll have to keep in mind.

The anxiety of all exhausted him. Loki was struggling enough as it is. His past still haunted him, making him weak and unstable at times. Those inner-wounds are still raw with fear and anger. He thought running from this life is the only way to find peace. The constant confinement has driven the- already mad- god up a wall.

The thoughts became too much to bear for Loki. Dizzy with exhaustion, he finally allowed his eyes to slip closed. He was thankful he is a light sleeper, otherwise, he'd never let his guard down to sleep in enemy territory. Loki's only issue now was- if he could even sleep- if his mind would drag him back to the nightmares that plagued him every night.

Maybe tonight will be different…

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**Next Chapter:** TBD

_Word Count: 3,402_

_Written On: 11-2-19_

_Updated On: xxx_

_Posted On: 11-5-19_


	2. Know Your Place

**Chapter 2:** _Know Your Place_

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A/N: Chapter deals with an awkward subject, but it hints to something the future chapters.

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Nightmares were a never-ending struggle for Loki, even before the Void. It stemmed way back to childhood. Countless nights of waking up screaming and the tears that followed. It was nothing new.

Tonight, was no different. Loki awoke in a panic, sweat dripping down his face. He gasped for air as he tried to calm himself. The digital clock next to his bed only said 11:00 pm. Loki sighed; it hasn't been more than three hours since he laid down.

Wiping his forehead with the back of his hand, Loki realized how parched he was. The nightmares always left him breathless and his throat raw. At least tonight he wasn't screaming in his sleep. Loki threw his legs over the bedside to go in search for water. JARVIS must have sensed his motion as the lights back on.

-_Is everything alright?- _The computer asked, effectively startling the god.

"…Yes," Loki took a deep breath and sighed, "Everything is fine."

-_Your heart rate seems abnormally high. Shall I contact Dr. Banner to examine you?-_

"No," he snapped before calming down, "No, that won't be necessary."

All he wanted was some water and to crawl back in bed with the hopes that no more bad dreams will come. Over on the table, Thor left a plastic pitcher of water and a stack of paper cups. Cursing at their lack of trust in him to have any glass, Loki went over and poured himself a cup. He finished it in one go. The cool water felt good coating his parched throat, as well as helping ease his queasy stomach. He downed a few more cups before heading back to bed. Exhausted, Loki crawled back under the covers and snuggled in. He felt a little calmer now. Even though, the dreams were still fresh in his mind. After he was tucked under the protection of the sheets, lights slowly turned off. For some reason… this made Loki anxious.

"Wait," Loki called up to the ceiling.

-_Is there a problem?_\- JARVIS replied.

"Just… don't turn the lights all the way off."

The AI did as was told and left the lights on a low glow. This helped ease Loki's panic, even though it was rather childish. He tried to keep his mind busy on something positive- which is impossible to do to the fact nothing in Loki's life was going well. He then remembered the food Thor brought tonight. It was so good. At that moment of time, it was pleasant, especially when Thor wasn't talking.

Soon enough Loki began to drift off. Before he let sleep take him, he prayed to the Norns to have just a dreamless sleep and to wake up feeling somewhat refreshed.

Unfortunately, that wasn't the case tonight.

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Loki awoke after another dream. This one was just as bad. Again, he was in a panic, covered in sweat. His breathing eased as his senses could feel the sheets beneath him. This occurrence was getting very old, very fast. Loki debated whether or not to just stay up the rest of the night. He glanced at the clock to see how long he slept.

[2:00am]

Feeling like it was still too early to stay up, Loki just decided to go to the restroom and try laying down one last time. It took a little more effort to ease out of bed. Sleeping seemed to have the opposite of the desired effect on Loki.

-_Are you sure you don't require assistance?_\- JARVIS asked again, once again causing the god to jump.

"No," he growled back.

The god dragged his feet to the bathroom door. He cursed himself for downing so many cups of water before going back to bed. Feeling gross from sweating so much, he thought he might as well splash his face with cold water since he was in there.

"Computer," Loki called out, his voice still groggy, "Open the door."

-_I'm afraid I cannot do that.-_

Loki cocked his head up at the ceiling and furrowed his brow, "And why not?"

_-Mr. Stark orders were that you needed someone to be present to use it._-

Loki swore under his breath. He forgot all about that new rule.

-_Would you like me to contact one of the Avengers to come assist you?_\- JARVIS asked.

If it was worse enough when Thor came in every once in a while, to allow him to use it, now he's got to ask? The very thought made his blood boil. Loki's punishment was to redeem himself, not be humiliated.

"That will not be necessary," Loki huffed, "Just allow me access."

-_I'm sorry but, as I said before, I cannot go against commands_.- JARVIS's voice didn't sway with his answer.

Loki could feel the pain in his abdominal increasing by the minute. He leaned against the wall, resting his head back. The last thing he wanted to do was beg this 'ceiling servant' to allow him access.

"It will only be a moment…" the god sighed.

-_Then I will contact Mr. Odinson to come over.-_

"No!" Loki snarled. He spun around and started pounding on the door. The Avengers removed the handle, so brute force was the only way he could try to open it.

-_You are making this unnecessarily difficult on yourself.-_

"Don't patronize me, you infernal device!" he snapped, going back to hitting.

Loki almost doubled over from another surge of pain. He finally admitted that JARVIS wasn't going to let him in without someone here. He, in no way in Hel, was going to piss himself out of sheer stubbornness. Loki wanted that shred of dignity to stay in tack.

The god sighed and gave in. Obviously, there was only one person he'd even consider- his damn brother. Cursing under his breath, Loki looked up at the ceiling.

"Contact Thor to come down," he paused, "But do not tell him the circumstances."

-_Very well._-

He just begged he'd get the message to him fast. In the meantime, Loki grit his teeth in agony and continued to hate himself for his past actions.

The static of JARVIS returned.

-_Mr. Odinson seems to not want to wake.-_

"Dammit, Thor…" Loki hissed, shutting his eyes in pain. He should have known it would be impossible to wake him. This whole thing was a lost cause.

-_Instead, I forwarded to message to Master Stark since he is still awake in his lab.-_

Loki's eyes snapped open to the response.

"You did what?!"

-_He's on his way over now._-

Panic immediately filled him. Out of all the people Loki wanted, JARVIS had to send him. Out of sheer desperation the god would have even taken Rogers or Banner instead. Realizing he was only in his underwear, Loki dashed back to the chair his clothes were on. He threw them on as fast as he could without putting too much pressure on his bladder. He thankfully just finished fastening his trousers when the room door started to unlock.

The door opened, revealing Tony. He looked pissed that he had to leave his projects and come over. The mechanic was dressed in his jeans and a tank top smeared with grease. Loki could tell the man was exhausted from the dark bags under his eyes.

"You rang, princess?" Tony grumbled as he walked into the room to allow JARVIS to close the door behind him.

Loki swallowed to coat his now dry throat. His Silvertongue seemed more like lead now.

Tony raised a brow from the god's hesitation. The guy did call him… didn't he? Then why was he just standing there?

"Well?" he huffed impatiently. Tony had plenty of other things to do then a staring contest with the god at 2 am.

"I-I just require you to open the door…" Loki's act seemed to falter a little with the stutter.

Tony paused for a second after the prisoner finished speaking. The gears turned in his head and, slowly, his lips turned up into a smile. Loki cursed to himself. Tony clearly understood what was going on.

"Pretty desperate, huh?" Tony smiled wryly, "Desperate enough to call me?"

"You were not my first choice," Loki grimaced.

-_Shall I open the door?_-

"Not yet, J," Tony looked at Loki with a scary twinkle in his eyes, "Reindeer Games and I want to chat for a bit first."

Tony casually leaned against the wall. He acted like he was going to take his sweet time starting a conversation. The wicked grin never left his lips.

_Now, _**_this_**_ was totally worth leaving the lab for! _Tony said to himself.

Loki frowned and tried to stand up taller to hide the fact he was pressing his legs together desperately. Whatever the mortal was going to throw at him, he knew he could take it.

"Either talk or open the door, Stark."

Tony cocked his brow, "My, my! You gotta lot of nerve telling me what to do. You are **my** prisoner after all."

Loki was having none of this. Stark was just messing with him now- stalling more like it. He hated being in such a compromised position in front of his most hated enemy.

"What do you want from me?" the god hissed.

"Want?" Tony chuckled, "All I want is just a little karma to come your way."

The god took in a frustrated breath. How was he to get Stark to open the door? Maybe he could threaten him with some ramifications.

"My brother would not approve of your methods…"

This made Tony let out a loud laugh. He took a few steps farther into the room. Not quite close to Loki but getting there. Loki, however, couldn't move. He felt glued in place from the pain. The god had no choice but to watch him approach.

"You think your big brother will always swing in here to save you?" Stark jeered, "Well I got some news for you, buddy…"

"Stark…" Loki's voice wavered from anger to panic before trailing off. Desperation was setting in fast… too fast. Was Stark really going to do this to him? Or does he just want to watch him squirm?

"Stark," he repeated before saying one of the words he hated most, "Please..."

"Oh," Tony laughed, throwing his hands up in the air dramatically, "He says please now!"

"Please… don't do **this**."

"Oh, we're doing **this** all right!"

The awkward silence continued for a minute; both were trying to scheme. Loki was trying to bite the inside of his cheek to advert the pain. It didn't seem to be helping much.

"So…" Tony broke the silence, "Remember how I said if you tried to take over the world that I'd **avenge** it?"

Loki did remember but didn't want to confirm it to him. He didn't want to give the mortal any more leverage.

When no answer came, Tony just gave a goofy grin.

"Well, I'm **avenging** it right now."

"Your methods won't work on me," Loki sneered.

"Really? Okay then, let's test that theory!"

"Hmm, what to do? What to do?" Tony trailed off. He scratched his goatee as if deep in thought, "Hey, how about this!"

Loki realized now his heart was racing. He was truly nervous to see where this was going. The pain was causing sweat to bead on his brow.

"How about I'll let you in after we do a little game," Tony wagered before continuing, "How about… for every innocent person you killed… I'll add one minute before I let you in!"

The god had to hold back the urge for his eyes to not pop out of his head. This was no mere mortal, but a mad man.

"So… how many people did you kill again? Hmm, I think it was in the thousands. You seem like a smart guy, Rudolph. Let's do the math, shall we?"

Loki was almost sure he was going to pass out on the spot. Stark was truly going to do this. Either he actually wanted Loki to piss himself or not is the question.

"Let's go with basics first and **slowly** make our way," Tony paused as he tried to think up an equation.

"So how about starting with the first sixty casualties. That gives you sixty minutes," He gave a low whistle, "Wow, already got an hour just there, buddy!"

"Now let's see what five-hundred would do. You're lucky I'm a walking calculator, or else it would take even longer! So, five-hundred-"

Loki desperately started clawing at the door. Hysteria started to set in. The god couldn't believe this was happening. He rammed into the door as hard as he could. After, he regretted that. Loki grasped the doorframe for dear life. His face pouring sweat and his stomach did flip-flops.

"- that's five-hundred minutes so…" Tony started counting on his fingers, "divide that by sixty…"

The god started seeing spots. He now was heavily supported himself on the doorframe. Tunnel vision started to set in soon after. There was no way he was going to pass out over this. Not here; not in front of Stark.

Tony continued to talk out the math. He calculated equation after equation. It was only until he started to hear the odd sound of water hitting the tile floor did he stopped.

Tony looked to see Loki, leaning heavily against the wall with both hands hiding his face. The god was quaking, looking about ready to fall over. His pants were completely soaked as his bladder lost the fight. It dripped steadily down his legs and puddled onto the tile around him.

"Really, princess?!" Tony huffed, "And all over my nice tile too!"

Loki didn't respond. He kept his hands shielding his face, still unable to stop the flow. His heavy breath could be heard through his fingers.

"I was just about to let you in too," Tony shrugged- clearly a lie.

The god's legs trembled violently before buckling. He slid down into the puddle out of exhaustion. Still too embarrassed to pull his hands away, he hid.

"Oh jeez! Why didn't you tell me sooner?" Tony mocked, letting out a laugh, "Guess we need to buy some pull-ups for you to wear at night."

The man strode up to Loki just short of the puddle around him. He waited patiently for the god to look up. When he didn't, Tony rolled his eyes.

"You think you can get away with killing all those people, just to get a slap on the wrist from daddy?" Tony spat, "Well I'm not going to let that happen. I'm going to personally make sure you spoiled ass pays for it..."

He paused before looking at the mess Loki's made, then goes back to look at his trembling form.

"… one way or another."

Tony spun on his heels and headed to the door. He stopped temporarily to add one more thing.

"Oh, and JARVIS…"

-_Yes, sir?_-

"Keep the bathroom door locked," he glanced at Loki, "Looks like he doesn't need to use it anymore..."

And with that, Tony left. It left the god alone in his puddle of shame.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

It was late morning and Loki was still alone. He never moved from his spot on the bed. With his knees to his chest and arms tightly wrapped around them, he hid his face in shame. After the incident, he attempted to use the water from the pitcher to try to clean himself off. It wasn't very effective. Loki exchanged his wet pants for another pair. The soiled pair ones used to cover the accident spot. He was still in disbelief over the situation.

In some ways, he thought the Avengers were above torturous games like that; or maybe all of them but Stark. Now, he was weary of the mortal. Loki refused to use the word 'fear' in his feelings. He settled with saying he's hesitant to see him.

Now thoroughly humiliated, Loki begged the human wouldn't tell the others. He didn't want to be kicked any more while he was down. That, and they'd never let him live that down. Loki assumed that even Thor would probably take their side.

He flinched to the sound of the door opening. With his face staying hidden in his knees, Loki peered through his tangled hair to get a look. It was Thor, carrying a tray of food- as always. He looked upset as he strolled in and set the food on the table. Loki didn't move from his spot on the bed, as well as refused to make eye contact. Thor came to sit on the bed next to him. Loki inched away to show he didn't want that. Thor ignored it and studied his brother's defensive position. He hesitated to speak but decided it was better to talk than sit in awkward silence.

The blonde swallowed the lump in his throat.

"Stark told me about last night. I wanted to check on you…"

Thor could barely hear the sharp inhale Loki took. His body seemed much more ridged now.

"What did he tell you?" Loki mumbled into his legs.

"He said… he said you called for assistance to use the bathing chambers," Thor tiptoed on his words, trying to remember the conversation carefully, "He tried to come as fast as he could, but he was unable to reach you in time."

The blonde was thrown off by his brother's dry laugh. He tried to see Loki's face through his dark locks, but his brother made it impossible. Loki was clearly not sharing something.

"Is that the story he tells?" Loki scoffed.

His reaction made Thor nervous. Without seeing showing his face, he had no clue what he was thinking. The older god felt more hesitant than ever to continue this conversation. Was his brother sick and not sharing it? That was a very Loki thing to do.

"It is alright, brother," he leaned in and put a supportive hand on Loki's back, "Accidents happen-"

Loki immediately jerked up and slapped Thor's hand off; the older brother recoiled. It hurt more of his feelings than of his slap. Now, he was looking into his brother's piercing green eyes. Thor realized he upset him.

"It was no **accident**!" Loki spat.

Thor blinked, "What do you mean?"

"The mortal strode in here with the intention of making me do that to myself."

"As much as I want to believe that," Thor took a deep breath and bit his lip, "You have been hard to trust lately."

Loki only frowned. Of course, Thor didn't believe him- he never did. His brother always sided with his friends. Why did he even bother sometimes?

"But it doesn't matter," Thor leaned in, his eyes softer, "I understand that happens sometimes. I have known since we were young you struggled with it with your night terrors. And I never thought little of you for it when you-"

"How dare you bring that up!" Loki screamed. Those days were not his proudest moments of his youth.

He was certain there must be a way to convince his dimwitted brother the truth. When his eyes scanned the room in thought, he saw the blinking red light of the surveillance cameras. Surely there must be a recording of the events. Once Thor sees he'll know Stark lied.

"If you don't believe me," Loki lifted his head towards the ceiling, "Ask that computer of his to shed some light on the situation."

"Very well," Thor said. If this will please his brother, he wanted to do it, "JARVIS? Do you have any surveillance feed of this room last night?"

-_It seems there is no footage in my archive.- _JARVIS answered.

Loki shot up out of the bed in shock.

"What?!"

The younger god pulled at his hair in frustration. The mortal had outsmarted him again. He should have known this was going to happen. Loki started to worry he was losing it.

Thor looked at him concerned, "Loki…"

"He must have deleted it," Loki started to pace back and forth, "That spineless coward…"

-_I assure you Mr. Odinson, I have not been tampered with. My system was merely rebooting overnight._\- JARVIS explained. His response was a preprogrammed lie.

"See, brother. It was just a coincidence-" Thor tried to say but was cut off by Loki snapping back around. He looked like the epitome of a madman with his tangled hair, pale skin, and thin figure.

"No, you don't understand!" Loki yelled.

"Why is this affecting you so much?" Thor was absolutely thrown off by Loki's theatrics.

"Because," the younger's voice cracked, "Your so-called 'teammates' do not wish for me to be redeemed. They want me humiliated, broken. It is their revenge!"

"That is not true…"

The fight drained out of Loki. His shoulders sagged and he faced the opposite wall. There was no way to convince Thor. His brother was far too trusting in his friends. This only made Loki feel all the more alone. He kicked himself for ever thinking his brother cared.

"Just leave me," Loki sighed.

"I will not," Thor said and got off the bed, "Not when you are in so much distress like this."

Loki gave a weak laugh.

"If you called this distressed, then you truly don't know me…"

Thor grew increasingly worried. Ever since he returned his brother to Asgard, he seemed… off. His bitterness grew as well as his bouts out aggression once the cuffs were placed on him. As Odin explained the magic binds, he did admit it will weaken his brother. The All-Father assures Thor it was a good thing. Loki was too dangerous to be left at full strength.

"Why don't you take a rest for the afternoon," Thor broke the silence. He eyed his brother carefully, "You seem tired."

Loki scoffed, "So now that I have soiled myself, you treat me as an infant?"

There he goes again, twisting his brother's words.

"You know that's not true, brother."

Thor walked up to be next to him. Loki responded by turning his shoulder to close himself off. He didn't want Thor's pity.

"My friends want to redeem you," the blonde stated, "I will prove it. I still wish to propose the idea of you helping them with research of the Tesseract."

Loki did that low, eerie laugh again.

"I would wager high against them agreeing to your proposition."

"Just rest, Loki," Thor left his side to leave, "I'm going to talk to them now."

His younger brother didn't respond. He just watched Thor head to the door.

Thor turned around, "I will leave your meal here. After, I must report to SHIELD regarding a different matter. But I'll drop off supper early before I leave. The affair will take all day, so I'll be back in the morning."

And with that, Thor was gone.

Loki had had enough and just laid back down on the bed. The conversation completely exhausted him. He was convinced there was no end to his torture. Whether with the Chitauri, in Asgard, or here… Loki was a prisoner.

_Cursed by the Norns_… he thought.

He found his eyes growing heavy. The god blames the damn bracelets for the fatigue. It was just another thing to add to his growing list of reasons to hate life. Loki decided to just accept sleep. Since he didn't get much last night, a nap sounded good. It was better than moping in his thoughts.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

A/N: Poor Loki. The guy just can't catch a break.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

**Next Chapter:** _Test Number One_

_Word Count: 3,950_

_Written On: 11-1-19_

_Updated On: 4-7-20_

_Posted On: 11-27-19_


	3. Test Number One

**Chapter 3:** Test Number One

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

A/N: I know Tony seemed kinda evil in the last chapter… but I kinda can't blame the guy. I mean, Loki did throw him out a window and kill thousands of people…

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Loki's been awake for a few hours now. Bad dreams had him up in the early morning hours. He decided it was useless to go back to sleep, so he stayed up reading some of his books. Currently sitting in his cell couch, Loki read and waited for Thor to come by so he could use the bathroom.

_That oaf is taking his sweet time…_

It wasn't much longer before the familiar sound of the cell door opening brought Loki out from his book. Thor, late as always, strode in carrying a tray of food.

"Good morning, brother! Sorry for my tardiness," Thor brought the tray to the table, "I had to wait until the others left the kitchen to sneak you some of our breakfast."

Loki didn't say anything as he stood up. He gently placed his book down and headed towards out of the little lounging area and into the middle of the room. Thor took notes of his quiet demeanor and just started to pull out the food.

"There was extra bacon leftover, but I had to make some more eggs and toast," Thor said before giving his brother a goofy grin, "I may not be the best cook, so I hope it's too your liking."

His younger brother didn't respond. As Loki got to the middle of the room, he stopped right in front of the bathroom and gave a glare towards Thor. His brother got the message pretty quickly.

"Oh… my apologies. JARVIS?"

The door slid open and Loki quickly walked in. Thor now felt very guilty for being late now. He kept setting the food out and tried to be patient for his brother's return. There was news he wanted to deliver and could hardly wait.

Thor heard the toilet flush, then the sounds of the sink running. Soon after, Loki emerged. He quietly padded over to the table and sat down in his usual seat across from Thor. The food looked far from appetizing to him. The bacon looked decent, but the eggs were dry, and the toast burnt. Thor, on the other hand, was digging in quite ravenously.

"Loki, I almost forgot," Thor excitedly exclaimed with his mouth full, "I come with good news as well!"

Loki leaned back in the chair; food forgotten. He wondered what Thor has in store for him today.

"Good new you say?" Loki scoffed, "Is it that you finally decided to release me?"

The older god swallowed his mouthful of food and frowned, "No, brother… you know I can't do that."

"Then I fail to see how this is good news."

Thor put his fork down and got serious.

"I came to say that I have talked to my friends about your knowledge of the Tesseract."

That actually got Loki's interest, "And?"

"And they accept your help," Thor said, "Be it some precautions…"

"Oh of course," Loki rolled his eyes, "I expect nothing less from your little mortals."

As eager as he was to finally get to start his plan of escape, he knew whatever contingencies would only make it harder. Nonetheless, Loki knew he could overcome them and escape. All it will take is time.

"The rules are your hands are to stay bound and chained… you are to be accompanied by an Avenger at all times… and any means of trying to escape, it will forfeit your help and you will go back to your room."

Loki put his fingers to his lips as he listened to Thor prattle off his rules. He had to admit, they were carefully thought out ones. He will follow them, but only to gain their trust. And once Loki is able to do that, they will remove the chains. Then, when the moment is right, take the Tesseract and run.

"To be honest, I am quite shocked your friends agreed to this," Loki replied.

Thor sighed, "It took much convincing, but we all know the Tesseract holds great power. With your help to harness it, Midgard will be protected."

He paused and looked into his younger brother's eyes in search of any mischief.

"Will you accept these terms?"

Loki sat up straight and pushed his chair back away from the table. Standing up, he smoothed down his tunic to remove the wrinkles.

"I accept your terms," Loki crossed his arms, "Shall we go then?"

"First, you will finish your meal," Thor gestured to his forgotten plate.

Loki rolled his eyes dramatically. It only got a stern look from Thor.

"Once you finished your meal… and washed… then I will return to escort you to Stark's lab."

The younger god gave him a disgusted sneer. He'll play Thor's game… for now. Loki and sat back down in the chair and picked up the plastic fork.

"Fine."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Thor allowed Loki to have the bathroom stay open while he informed the others of Loki's agreement to the rules. An hour later, he returned to find his brother sitting and waiting for him. His hair was still slightly damp from the shower and was dressed in new long sleeve tunic and trousers. Before he addressed Loki, Thor looked to see if Loki has followed all of his orders. He looked over at the table to his brother's plate. It was messily picked at. The bacon was gone, but the eggs and toast were barely touched.

"Took you long enough..." Loki muttered.

Thor decided to ignore the food and get down to business. He approached his brother, who was now already standing up.

Loki immediately eyed the large satchel that Thor has hung over his shoulder. It looked rather heavy. He knew those were the chains. Loki hasn't seen them since he was originally brought here. They were made of the same metal as his cuffs- unbreakable.

Loki sighed dramatically and held up his wrists for Thor. His brother said nothing as he pulled the chains out from the bag. Loki noticed a sad look on Thor's face. He clearly did not enjoy chaining up his little brother.

As Thor finished fastening them onto each hand, Loki studied them. The chain was only a foot long and barely gave him any use of his hands.

"How am I supposed to assist with these on?" Loki held the binds up in emphasis.

"You are only there as an advisor," Thor explained, "There will be no need for you to touch anything."

Now here was another stupid thing that Loki had to add to his list of annoying rules. These things only complicated his plan in the long run.

"Loki," Thor said pulling his brother from his schemes. The older god pulled another set of chains out of the bag, "I need you to take off your boots."

"I beg your pardon?!" Loki furrowed his brow and looked at Thor, appalled.

"I must attach these chains to your ankles," he stated as he bent down to Loki's feet.

"My legs? Really, Thor!?" Loki was getting more furious by the minute. It was humiliating enough to be led to the Avengers with bound hands, but with legs too?!

"This was not my choice, but of the other Avengers," the blonde just looked up expressionless, "Please don't make this any more difficult…"

With his hands tied, Loki snarled and kicked off his boots awkwardly. He stood there and waited as Thor rolled his pants to expose the ankle cuffs. It took less than a minute to fasten the chains in place. Thor stood up quietly and looked at his brother. Loki, however, was busy staring at his newly bound legs. He was far from thrilled over it.

"You expect me to go barefoot?!" Loki's face twisted in disgust.

"No," Thor replied. Out of the same satchel, he pulled out some shoes, "I brought you a pair of mine to use."

They were shaped similar to regular shoes but were made of only leather and lined with soft fleece. Loki rolled his eyes and slipped his feet in. They were big being Thor's, but they will suffice. The ankle chains were at least longer than his wrist ones. They were a few feet longer, allowing him to walk without trouble… running, however, would be impossible. He tested the strength of his new chains by shaking his foot. Unhappy by the weight of them, Loki looked at his brother disapproving.

"Am I bound to your liking?" he wrinkled his nose.

"Watch your tongue, brother," Thor warned, "I may tolerate your words, but the Avengers will not."

With the warning, the older god roughly put his larger hand on Loki's shoulder and guided him to the door. Loki reluctantly allowed Thor to lead him out. The younger god couldn't help but feel anxious as he was guided down the hallways. The only sound was the chains on his feet rattling with each step. Loki has no clue where he was going in this maze of paths. It reminded him of the halls of Asgard in that sense. If one didn't know the way, you would be lost.

"Where exactly are we going?" he asked inquisitively.

Thor didn't reply right away. He focused himself on making sure his brother wasn't going to make a run for it. There wasn't much to worry about since Loki was so chained up. But Thor wouldn't let his guard down.

"The penthouse," he finally said, "There, we will take the elevator down to the basement. That is where Stark's lab is located."

Loki was curious about Thor's description. _A lab you say?_ He could only imagine what weapons of mass destruction the Man of Iron kept down there. The most obvious one would be the Tesseract, of course… but what else? Loki wondered if maybe his scepter was down there too.

Once they got to the penthouse, Loki knew exactly where they were. This was where he was defeated last at the hands of the Avengers. The window that he threw Stark out of was fixed and the Loki-shaped hole in the floor was filled in. He tried not to flinch at those horrible memories, instead, he walked with Thor into the elevator.

It must have been a way down as the silence of the space was uncomfortable to Loki. He felt like he had to say something to calm his own nerves.

"Who will be down there?" Loki asked innocently enough.

His older brother looked over at him curiously. It was an interesting question for Loki to ask. It was almost as if his brother sounded nervous.

"Stark, Rogers, and Banner," he responded shortly.

"Oh…" Loki looked away. He tried to stay impassive, but when Thor stated Stark would be down there, Loki felt sick. He definitely has not forgotten about the last encounter with that mortal. He was hesitant to ask the second part of the question; it will make him look weak. But the gnawing feeling of dread made him ask anyway.

Loki looked back up at him, "Are you staying there as well?"

Thor was a little thrown off by his coupled question. Was Loki scared to be left alone with them? The blonde couldn't think of any reason why he should be. His friends have shown nothing but support for his brother's redemption.

"I actually will not," Thor said, "They said not to worry and that I may go meet up with Jane. She is in town for a conference after all."

Loki was lucky Thor didn't have X-ray vision or he would have seen his legs starting to tremble under his loose-fitting clothes. He was really going to leave him with these men. At first, Loki was scared, but anger grew quickly.

_Of course, Thor is leaving me! He always does! _

His brother's trust in his human friends was disgustingly strong. He has already proven that from the bathroom events that happened recently. This was no surprise. Thor would be off with his lady friend while he leaves Loki to defend for himself.

The ding of the elevator actually made Loki jump. He felt Thor's hand tighten his hold on his shoulder. Loki glances over to see his brother still looking down at him.

"What has gotten into you?" he asked, his expression showed concern, "You have been acting quite nervous lately."

"'It's nothing," Loki dismissed.

Thor decided to drop the subject and walked Loki out of the elevator and through the hallways. It wasn't long before the reached the glass door to Tony's lab. JARVIS was already aware and opened the door on their arrival. Just past the doorway sat the three men. They were deep in conversation. The door opening, however, cut them off. They watched as Thor entered, with his chained brother at his side.

"Took you guys long enough!" Tony scoffed.

"My apologies, friends Stark," Thor smiled before gesturing to Loki, "My brother is ready to assist you in any way he can."

Loki never made eye contact with the three men. He stared hard at his feet. The tension in the room was uncomfortably strong.

"Great," Tony clapped as he pushed up out of the chair. He was quickly followed by Bruce and Steve, "Let's get started then."

Loki didn't like the man's chipper attitude. Something was off about all of this. None of them should be happy to see him. Loki was pulled from his thoughts by Thor patting his shoulder. He looked up at Thor to see his older brother smiling fondly.

"I will take my leave then," he said.

Loki couldn't help but look at his brother with pleading eyes. His bright green gaze begged Thor to stay. The older god quickly took notice and put his other hand on Loki's shoulder, so they faced each other.

"You will do well, Loki," Thor smiled reassuringly, "I will be back tonight."

The younger god broke his gaze and stared down again. He constantly kicked himself for his continuing to hope that his brother will be by his side. Loki got one more pat on the back from his brother before taking his leave. Loki has no choice but to watch- the only person he cared about- to leave him.

"So…"

Loki turned to the sound of Tony's voice. Stark and the others were standing right there. He immediately put on an emotionless mask to hide his anxiety. He will not allow them to read his face.

"Here's how it's going to go, so listen up Reindeer Games," he continued.

The god decided it would be best to listen to what the mortal has to say… whether or not he'd agree to it.

"Bruce and I have been going back and forth trying to decipher this Tesseract of yours. From what we've already pulled out of you before, this is the Space Stone. That means it can transport things through space. You still with me?"

Loki nodded, annoyed.

"Our project is to figure out how to use this as more of a time mechanism and-"

"That will not work," Loki cut him off.

"And why's that?" Bruce added frustrated but curious.

Their pure ignorance made the god sigh out loud. Their pitiful minds cannot grasp the knowledge of the stone's abilities. If only they knew of the other stone, the Time Stone.

"You cannot control time with the Space Stone," he stated matter-of-factly.

"And that is where you're wrong, kid," Tony smirked as he walked over to a computer. Pressing a few buttons, a blue projection came up off the stone. Tony walked around the hologram and used his watch to rotate the image.

"The answer is black holes," he continued. The projection followed Stark's words and a black hole appeared above. He turned back to face Loki. The god's face stayed unfazed.

"Black holes warp reality and defy the laws of physics, including time and space. If we can create our own black hole and control where they lead… Boom! Time Travel!"

"That seems like a stretch," Loki said. He tried crossing his arms but found he couldn't with the chains on. Instead, he let them drop forward.

He watched Tony walk over to another table. This one has a large machine on it. The thing was a mess of wires and gears. Loki could have sworn by the looks of it that it was just a hunk of recycled metal, not an actual machine.

Stark didn't say anything and went up to it and flicked a few switches. The noise it made was horrid. It screeched and groaned as the motor started chugging. Soon blue lights flickered on and lit up the whole room.

"This is it?" Loki raised his brow. He could hardly believe this pile of garbage could control time, let alone make a black hole.

"What? You've never seen a time machine before?!" Stark gave his new baby a pat.

"No, I haven't," Loki replied with a deadpan expression, "And I know for a fact this is not one."

Tony gave a short snort to the god's small jab at his ego and turned back to start messing with the machine. Bruce came over shortly after to help.

It was awkward as Loki stood there, being ignored, and watched them. He glanced over at the Captain who was standing by himself. He wasn't close to the other Avengers, but more in the middle of them and Loki. Clearly, he wanted to be within close proximity to their residential villain just to make sure he doesn't do anything stupid.

Steve exchanged glances with the god, eyeing him carefully. Tony was right, they couldn't trust him. It was out of desperation of figuring out the Tesseract that they even allowed Loki out of his room. He watched the god sneer at him then look away. He was clearly agitated that none was paying attention to him.

"So, where do I come into all of this?" Loki couldn't take the silence anymore, "You have your theories, you built your machines. Why would you want my assistance?"

That got everyone's attention. Tony and Bruce stopped fiddling with the device and looked at him.

"That's right," Tony said, 'Everything's built and ready to run. Problem is, is that they're plenty of kinks to work out. We need to run tests. Therefore, we need a _test dummy_."

He openly gestures to Loki, "And that's where you come in."

Loki had to work hard to hide his shocked reaction. _A test dummy?! That's what I am to them? _He took that as quite an insult. They didn't need him for knowledge, just as a lab rat.

"This is ridiculous!" Loki growled and made a step forward to Tony, but, in the corner of his eye, he could see Steve shifting towards him. Clearly, the Captain grew uncomfortable at the god's raised voice. Steve hasn't even said one word yet since Thor left and it made Loki suspicious to his purpose.

He gestured to the Captain, "And he is here because…?"

"Because we needed some muscle here," Tony scoffed, "I can't trust you as far as I could throw you… well actually, you're pretty scrawny. I probably could throw you far… Screw the idiom! You know what I mean!"

Loki decided it was best to stay where he was. Here remembered Thor's rule about causing any trouble forgot his help. That, and he knew that it could end with him pinned to the ground by the Captain.

"And why would you think I would ever agree to be your test subject?" Loki sneered.

"Why?" Tony crossed his arms and smiled, "Are you scared?"

"Of course not!" he retorted, "I'd rather just not be a smear across the universe at the hands of your primitive device!"

"This isn't the first time…" Bruce finally stepped in. Tony didn't help keep the situation calm., "Loki, we've obviously done more testing before this."

"We started with this," he continued holding up a pear, "We tweaked this machine hundreds of times. Now, when we send the pear, it always comes back to us. Sometimes it changes ripeness… thus we're bending time. A pear was the best subject item due to its short shelf life."

"So, with that test successful, we now need a **live** test subject," Tony said.

"I refuse to consent to this," the god glared back at the mortal. Why on earth would they think he'd do this so willingly?

"So then," Tony shrugged and turned around to fiddle with the machine, "I guess we gotta just tell Thor that his baby brother is a scaredy-cat."

"I told you, I am not afraid!"

Stark turned back around and smiled, "Oh yeah?! Then prove it!"

Anger blinded Loki's common sense before he could stop himself.

"Fine! I will!"

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

After Loki- unintentionally- decided to be the _test dummy_, Stark and Banner went to work on setting it up. Rodgers stayed standing guard over the god as they did. It took half an hour to have things set and ready. The machine was on and Tony had a bunch of projected screens surrounding its control panel.

Stark rubbed the grease on his jeans and stood in front of Loki. The god was still standing in the same spot, impatiently waiting for something to happen.

"So," Tony said, "Our plan is that we are going to send you into the past by a few days. You're going to land in the penthouse kitchen. There will be a bowl of pears on the table, grab one. We'll give you five seconds to do it before we pull you back."

Bruce was holding a clipboard, scribbling down notes furiously. His glasses were tipped on the edge of his nose as he focused on writing down the calculation. Not looking up from the board, he walked next to Tony.

"We want to see what happens to the pear when you return, he says, "It might be just like it was last week, or it might be overripe. We just don't know."

Loki mentally shrugged and accepted their plans. Be it stupid, he really felt he had no choice in the matter. With Thor gone, there was no one to back him up if everything seemed too suspicious.

"Let's get this started," Tony said and walked to the control panel before turning to Banner, "Ready, Brucie?"

"As ready as I'll ever be," Bruce put down his notes and went over to the machine. He picked up this odd sphere-shaped device and pulled it up off the table; Several cords and wires were attached from it to the machine. In all the whole device was the size of a basketball and as heavy as a bowling ball. The most prominent thing about it was how it gave off a blinding, blue light.

Hesitantly, he approached Loki with it, careful not to trip on its cords. Bruce one hundred percent didn't trust the god and was nervous to even be in the same room as him. Steve noticed and stayed close by to help ease his stress. The last thing they wanted was Bruce stressed.

"All you got to do is hold this," he explained and handed the sphere to Loki.

Loki took it awkwardly. The length of the wrist chains made it hard to hold. He held it to his chest to help balance the size of it. The god couldn't help but stare- fascinated- at the device. It felt strangely familiar in a way. The blue light it emitted almost hypnotized him.

"Is this the Tesseract?" Loki asked, not looking up from the ball.

"Yes," Stark confirmed, "The Tesseract is the thing that transports you… while the machine will be the thing that navigates you down the right path."

Pressing buttons on the panel, Tony made the machine grow louder. Gears inside his invention spun furiously.

"Okay," he said, "No more questions! We're starting this right now."

Tony instructed the Avengers to stand back. That didn't help Loki's silent nerves. He squeezed the ball tighter to his chest and stared at Stark.

"Just get this over with," Loki muttered impatiently.

"Okay then! I'd tell you this won't hurt," Tony shrugged while pushing more buttons, "… but I have no clue if it might or not."

Before Loki had time to open his mouth to say something, the sphere in his hands started sparking wildly. The Tesseracts blue light started to engulf the whole room. The sound it made was almost deafening. Loki could feel his hand tingling from its vibrations.

The tingling slowly grew to a feeling of pins being pushed into his skin. He had to grit his teeth to surprise a hiss of pain. Once it couldn't get any worse. Loki felt the same feeling he had back at the battle with the Avengers previously. The point when he got sucked into the black hole with the Chitauri. Only this time, he felt more crushing pressure.

At this point, Tony, Bruce, and Steve all have to shield their eyes from the blinding light. It was only a few seconds before the light disappeared completely. When they all looked back up, all that was left was the cords that were attached to the sphere and a small scorch mark. Loki and the Tesseract were gone.

"It worked!" Tony gasped, shocked it actually worked.

"We don't know that for a fact," Steve said.

Bruce didn't look up from the spot the good once was, "Well, in a few seconds we will…"

A few painstakingly long seconds later, blue sparks appeared in the exact same spot where Loki was. Before anything could be said, the blinding light came back and filled the room. The cracking of the sparks and light increased before sizzling out completely.

Loki reappeared in the same spot he disappeared. The god stumbled forward a little bit as his feet hit the floor. Thankfully, even with the chains on his feet, he didn't fall over. The sphere was still in his hands, protectively clutched into his chest.

The three Avengers started in shock as the light finally dissipated. Loki looked like he went through hell and back. His long-sleeved tunic was all torn up. One sleeve was ripped and slipped down his arm, leaving his shoulder exposed. His long, raven locks were windblown and not slicked back as it was previously. Loki widened his stance a little bit to stable himself. Taking a few shaky breaths, he looked up to them. His expression was a mix of shock and unnerved.

Bruce stepped back and scooted towards Steve. Loki's appearance really threw him off. None of them were expecting the god to return like this. He didn't know whether to run to him or run away. He looked up at the Captain who was sporting the same shocked expression.

"Is he supposed to look like that when he comes back?!" Steve stammered, staring at Loki. It was odd to him to feel any concern over the god. But, at the same time, he's never seen him so shaken up before.

"Yo, Rudolph," Tony ran past the two and up to Loki. He looked him up and down, "Where's the pear?"

"I didn't get it," Loki said breathlessly. He then took a second to try to compose himself. His clothes were beyond repair, but he straightens his posture, so he didn't look so disheveled.

"What?! What do you mean you didn't get it?!" Tony yelled back.

"I mean, I never appeared in the desired location," Loki stopped to take another haggard breath, "Instead I was thrown around inside your so-called black hole and tossed back here."

"Huh…" Stark went back to the control panel and started typing something down quickly before looking it over, "That's weird."

Bruce slowly approached the god and offered to take the sphere. Loki handed it over peacefully. He was happy to have his hands free to fix his hair- even if it was still awkward to do with the chains.

"Well, Bruce and I have lots of work to do then. We'll get this sorted out and have the next test up and running for tomorrow," Tony explained before turning to Steve, "Spangles? Can you bring Rudolph back to his cell?"

"That's it?!" Loki snapped at Stark, "You just drag me down here, test your machine on me, then send me back up?!"

Steve quickly got over to Loki's side before tempers flared even more. He grimaced and put a strong hand on the god's shoulder. He glanced at Tony in his peripheral to see him not even paying attention to Loki's rant. He and Bruce were already unscrewing bits of the device and whispering calculations to each other.

"You're just going to ignore me?!" the god spat, "Just use me as your tool and hope I don't break in the process?!"

"Let's go, Loki," Steve said sternly, he gave Loki's shoulder a hard squeeze to get his message across.

Loki huffed and turned back around and allowed the Captain to guide him out. He didn't want to fight. He was tired of these mortals anyway. They didn't care about him. Loki was lucky to reappear in one piece after that horrible experiment.

It was an uncomfortable journey back to his room. Steve didn't say much, but he glanced at the god in the corner of his eye. Loki still looked pretty banged up. Here took notice of Loki's demeanor. The god appeared tired, his posture was not as straight, and he was oddly compliant to having Steve walk him around. The clothes he had on were still shredded and hung off his thin frame. Steve wondered if the guy even had another pair of clothes, but quickly brushed that off… telling himself he shouldn't care about the man.

They finally reached Loki's door and JARVIS opened it on their arrival. Steve watched the god walk in and turn to him. All Loki did was hold out his hands to signify he wanted Steve to take off the chains. It was nerve-wracking to the Captain to go and lean in to remove the links from his cuffs. At any point, Loki could just snap and attack him. At the same time, the god didn't look like he had any fight in him. It didn't stop Steve from staying on the alert when he bent down to undo the ankle chains.

Finishing up, Steve held the chains in one hand and stood up. He looked at Loki and paused before coughing uncomfortably.

"Do you… uhh," he awkwardly rubbed his hand on the back of his neck, "Do you need me to open the door to the restroom before I go?"

Loki quickly turned his head away to hide his face. His cheeks burned red at the comment. Without saying anything, Loki just shook his head.

Steve put his arm down and looked away, "Well, okay then."

With the chains still in his hand, he started to the room's door. Steve stayed especially aware just in case Loki were to follow him- but he didn't. As he was about to walk out, Steve felt an odd pang of concern again and turned back to the god.

"Are you sure your okay?" he asked nervously, "You came back uh… pretty messed up."

Loki lifted his head back up to see the man. The god's posture changed. He folded his hands behind his back and stood up tall. Despite his ragged clothes, his regal presence shown through.

"Your concern is appreciated but not necessary, Captain," he stated.

Steve just nodded and left. Loki was finally alone again. It was a relief to be out of the presence of those pesky mortals. He was starting to regret offering his assistance now.

Loki was too exhausted to stand anymore. His body felt like it was pulled apart and put back together… his clothes really resembled that. Glancing at the clock, he saw it was only 6 pm. Usually, that would be way too early to even think about sleeping, but Loki felt like if he didn't lay down now, he was going to pass out.

The god stripped off his torn clothes and crawled into his bed. A yawn escaped his lips unintentionally. He was uncharacteristically exhausted. Loki snuggled in deeper and started to think of what to say to Thor when he comes back. Surely his brother will ask how it went with his friends. Should he saw they were using him as a test subject? And how they almost ripped him apart? **No**. No for two reasons. One is that he will look weak and, most importantly, two… he wouldn't believe him. Loki lost his faith in his brother too many times to count. He won't be hurt again.

With sleep setting in, the god made the decision not to tell Thor about the events. He still had a shot of getting out by using their trust. The new question was: Will they accidentally kill him beforehand?

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

It was around 8 pm when Thor finally returned home. He already had an argument with his friends when he was told they didn't feed his brother. The god had stormed out and made a can of soup to bring down to him.

When Thor entered Loki's chambers, his brother was nowhere to be found. He quickly put down the tray of food and rushed to look around. It didn't take long to realize his brother was curled up in a ball on his bed. The size of the bed and blankets pretty much swallowed Loki's slim body.

Thor didn't want to startle him but found it unnecessary when he realized Loki was sound asleep. As much as he wanted to ask him how his time went with the other Avengers, he didn't have the heart to wake him.

The god went back to pick up the tray of food then asked JARVIS to turn off the lights.

He'll ask Loki about his day tomorrow.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

A/N: Since this is MCU based and not comic-based, they are referred to as the Infinity Stones and not the Infinity Gems.

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**Next Chapter:** Test Number Two

Word Count: 5,727

Written On: 12-3-19

Updated On: 12-10-19

Posted On: 12-12-19


	4. Test Number Two

**Chapter 4:** Test Number Two

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*Long authors note but important.

A/N: Finally got this done after all this time. Sorry for the wait guys. It's been one hell of a few months. HUGE things have been happening for me at both work and home (and note this pandemic mess). All these chapters are half-written. It was just getting around to finishing and editing them that took so long.

Anyways, my apologies again. I'll try to not let that happen in the future.

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A/N: Since there were sooo many responses to the last chapter. I thought I'd update this story again before updating another.

So, I got some great feedback for the last chapter. I'm very grateful for that because those are some big plot-holes that are not discussed and/or just skimmed over.

Anyway, I updated some chapters a little with more information, but I'll also just put a little blurb here too in this section to answer some of those questions so you don't have to re-read the story (I mean unless you want to…)

Loki's bands on his wrists and ankles block his magic. They are made with indestructible Uru metal and can set off a small shock for attempting to cast spells. The cuffs do drain his strength and endurance slightly. That being said, his overall Jotunn durability is unaffected. He still can take a punch… he's not great at punching back.

Because of his magic being blocked, he cannot control the Tesseract. Therefore, if he doesn't get the cuffs removed, stealing the cube would be pointless.

In Chapter 2, I fixed a few lines said by Thor and JARVIS. I agreed with the reviews that some of their dialogs were OOC.

Thanks so much for all your feedback guys.

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It was almost 9 am, Loki was awake… but still in bed. Another round of nightmares at 2 am was to blame. Besides, he had no motivation to get up. Loki would just repeat the process he does every day: wake, bathe, eat, read, eat, so on and so on, and repeat. For doing nothing, each day was increasingly tiring. Yesterday didn't help. Loki still felt odd from that test. The feeling it left was like his insides got rearranged. It was a miracle he didn't throw up. Worst of all, Loki knew he was going to have to do it again today— definitely not looking forward to that.

On cue, the rooms metal door unlocks and slides open. Even facing the other wall, Loki immediately recognizes it's Thor. The stomping of his boots was very distinct to him.

"Good morning, brother!" Thor beamed, "I brought you what the humans call 'oatmeal'. It is very similar to the porridge we have at home."

Thor set a tray on the table and started to set up the plates. Thankfully, he didn't have to make the food this time. He's been getting lucky so far that no one has noticed him sneaking his brother better food than those TV dinners. That and JARVIS seemed to just not care as well.

Loki sighed and mumbled something into the pillows but refused to get up. He wasn't up to dealing with Thor's cheery attitude today. In fact, he wasn't up to anything... especially going down to the lab.

"Brother," Thor frowned approaching the bed when he saw Loki not moving, "It's time to rise."

His younger brother muttered something under his breath and pulled the sheets over his head. Not appreciating Loki's grumpy mood, Thor stood at the side of the large bed and gripped the edge of the sheets. With one swift pull, he yanked the covers off the bed. Loki let off a frustrated groan as he was curled tightly in a ball in the middle of the bed. The rush of cold air sent a shiver down his exposed skin. Only in a pair of undergarments, Loki immediately grew too self-conscious to stay there.

Before Loki could move, Thor reached over and grabbed his brother's arm that was tucked in close to his chest. He tugged on it to uncurl Loki from his huddled position.

"I said, 'it's time to get up'," he repeated and dragged Loki to the side of the bed.

Loki finally reacted and rolled over. He pulled back, "Okay, okay! Fine!"

Thor let go of Loki's arm, making his brother end up falling back and sprawl out on the bed. He sat up and composed himself, not appreciating Thor's tactics. Loki let off a huff of frustration and slid off the bed. He made zero eye-contact with Thor as he walked to his dresser. Grabbing a new set of clothes, Loki went to stand at the door to the bathroom. Only then, did Loki glare over at his brother.

Understanding his brother's demands, Thor allowed him to go into the bathroom. He knew Loki would take a while, so he headed back to the table to sit and wait. The blonde busied himself on sipping his coffee and staring at the cover of one of the many books Loki had stacked in his room.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

After a long half an hour, Loki emerged from the bathroom. Thor could tell he had showered by the looks of his brother's dampened hair. He had dressed himself in a long-sleeved, forest green tunic with dark grey leggings. It was very similar to the ones that got destroyed yesterday. His fashion choices were very limited now.

Thor has still yet to know about the events yesterday. Loki knew the questions will pop up soon. So, he didn't say anything as he eyed his brother sitting at the table. Only letting out a sigh, he knew he eventually had to join Thor. Instead of pushing it off, he took the seat across from him.

Thor smiled, "Good morning, again."

His younger brother just responded by putting his elbow on the table and resting his cheek on his open palm.

Rolling his eyes, Thor served him a bowl of the oatmeal. It was piled high with berries and brown sugar. He even added a side of toast and orange juice to the meal in front of him. Clearly, he was sending a message for Loki to eat more.

When both meals were served, there was a silence as Thor started eating. Loki just frowned stared at the dish. He usually would just pick at the food, but he hasn't eaten since breakfast yesterday. Being too hungry, he pushed aside his stubbornness and just ate. It was disgustingly sweet and too lumpy for good liking, but he choked down as much as he could anyway.

They kept to themselves for the longest time before Thor finally spoke up.

"So, you never told me about yesterday. How did it go?"

Loki put down his spoon and mentally sighed. He knew this question was coming sooner or later. He had to make sure he worded his answers correctly.

"Pointless," he stated, "Those mortals barely had me do anything."

"It must have been more than that," Thor said, "When I returned last night, you were already out cold before eight."

Loki, feeling offended, raised a brow, "You came into my chambers?"

"I came to bring you your dinner. I didn't want to wake you since you did not stir to me as I greeted you," he explained.

Loki ignored him and just muttered something under his breath about his lack of privacy. He picked to his utensil again and absentmindedly stirred the oatmeal.

"Well Loki, I'll have you know that Stark said you did help them yesterday," Thor continued, "You may think what you did was nothing, but the others say otherwise."

"You don't say…"

"Indeed! And they would like to see you again today to pick up where you left off."

Loki didn't know how to feel about that. _To pick up where they left off?_ Did they finish their repairs and now hope to test it on him again? What if it went wrong again? His faith in the mortals' intelligence to harness such a powerful weapon was nonexistent at most.

"Anyways, Jane is still in town till the end of the day and asked me to join her before she heads off," Thor looked softly at his brother, "Would it be alright if I went while you work with the others?"

Loki was a little shocked by Thor's question. Why did he feel like he needed all his permission to go out with that woman? Is there something he wasn't telling him?

"Why ask me such a question?" Loki asked skeptically while staring at him under lowered brows.

Thor's eyes started to show more concern. He remembered when his brother asked on the elevator if he was staying or not. It was so out of character of him. Although, ever since the Chitauri incident, Loki did always seem more on edge. But this type of anxiety was still odd. Thought the whole time he was with Jane yesterday. The guilt ate him up. He was distracted by the memory of his brother's face when he left him in the lab. That one expression he made, be it only lasted less than a second- that look of fear.

"Last time I left you with them, you seemed… frightened that I was leaving."

Loki scoffed, "I wasn't frightened! I just didn't want to be stuck there with your mortal friends for the remainder of the day."

Whether it was a half-lie or not, Loki didn't want to share his personal feelings about all of this. He was convinced Thor's priorities weren't about him, but his mortals. Thor was no better than Odin, always choosing favorites.

"I see," Thor looked off in the distance as he processed Loki's response, "I just wanted to make sure…"

Loki rolled his eyes. His brother was as clueless as ever. With knowing his brother's true priorities, Loki knew he was on his own with this. It was inevitable. He was going to have to go down to that lab and be a test subject yet again. There was nothing he could do to stop it. The hope that maybe his half-baked plan would work is the only thing that is keeping his motivation going.

Standing up in his chair, Loki looked down at his brother at the table. He noted Thor's expression. Even though he couldn't exactly tell what the thunder god was thinking, Loki could tell he looked deep in thought.

"You will hurt that thick skull of yours trying to think so hard," Loki frowned and held up his arms to signify Thor to put on the chains, "Let's get this over with."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

It wasn't long before the brothers appeared in the lab entrance. Like before, Loki was in the binds as he stood next to his big brother. Thor's arm was protectively wrapped around his sibling's shoulders. It made Loki look so small, so weak. Loki did not appreciate that at all but didn't want to show any hostility while near the mortals. He didn't want to forfeit his only chance at freedom.

The dragging of his chains alerted the Avengers of their arrival. It was only Tony and Bruce in the lab at the moment. That caused Loki some concern about why their, so-called, "muscle" wasn't with them.

"Welcome back, Rudolph," Tony stopped what he was doing and wiped his greasy hands on a nearby rag, "Shall we dive right into it then?"

Stark actually looked kind of excited. Loki knew he was excited to test the machine and not of his presence. The god was just a tool to him after all.

Loki made no attempts at the response. He turned to glare at Thor to signify him to leave. Thor, still oddly quiet, looked down at his sibling. Loki could see a rather hurt expression on his face. Thor still obliged to Loki's demand and pulled his arm off his shoulders slowly.

"I will see you tonight then, brother," Thor said somberly before turning to face his teammates, "Please contact me if he needs anything."

Loki let out an annoyed huff. _Oh, NOW he cares!_

Bruce noticed both the brother's odd behaviors. He assumed something happened before they came down here; probably another argument. Sometimes he can hear them screaming at each other from down the halls. How those two haven't killed each other yet was beyond him.

Before Banner could assure Thor of his concerns, Stark jumped in.

"Don't worry, blondie!" Tony smiled confidently and patted Bruce on the back, "We'll watch over your baby brother here while you enjoy your hot date!"

A tinge off pink peeked out from behind Thor's blonde beard. Whether it be from embarrassment or anger, the god nodded and awkwardly bid his brother goodbye. After he left the room now was left in uncomfortable silence.

Tony wasted no time getting started.

"I'll bring you up to date on what Bruce and I have been working on," he said, "So, obviously, last time wasn't so _great_..."

Loki suppressed the urge to roll his eyes. _Oh, yes… 'great"._

"But, with a lot of brains… and caffeine, I think we got something!" Tony continued on and walked over to this device on the platform next to the machine.

"First of all, I realized holding the Tesseract in the case made it hard for you to move around and grab stuff… so, we were able to construct this platform instead. It was already planned out with schematics and half-built, but we scrapped it since we thought the sphere-thing idea was better. Whelp, guess not!"

Tony gave a thumbs-up at Bruce by the control panel. With the flip of a few switches, Bruce fired up the machine with the same amount of obnoxious noise. Again, the bright, blue light returned to fill the room. The only difference to it all was the platform— which also had the same blue light.

Loki leaned forward to get a look at the new addition. The edge of the platform was metal, but the center was a glass that had the light escaping out of. Upon further inspection, the center of the blue core was square.

_The Tesseract. _Loki whispered to himself.

"Now," Tony continued as he leaned casually against the table holding the machine, "Second, we tweaked some of finer details so, hopefully now, Lokes here will pop out in the right time and place."

The god frowned. _Hopefully…_

Calling over to Bruce, Tony signifies to project out the control panel. The holograms popped up with numbers and blueprints of the device's structure.

"Let's cut to the chase! Shall we!" Stark eagerly motioned Loki to stand on the platform.

Loki was hesitant but moved forward. His leg chains scraped along the floor and onto the staging area. Trying to keep an impassive face the entire time, but Loki's stomach could help but to churn with anxiety.

_If I can survive being thrown around space once... I'm sure I can do it again. _He reassured himself.

Before they signaled to start, Rogers came running in. He looked like he came from the gym upstairs by the looks of his sweatpants and a sleeveless shirt.

"I heard the machine upstairs," he panted, "You said we weren't starting until noon."

Loki sneered. _Guess the Captain was supposed to be here after all. _

"Sorry bout that, Cap," Tony rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, "The Mario Brothers came sooner than expected."

Steve sighed. Then, he realized that Loki was here. The god was so quiet that he didn't immediately realize when he ran in. Loki just eyed him back inquisitively. Steve noticed he looked a lot better than he did yesterday. The god had new clothes on that weren't tattered and his hair was in its normal slicked-back look.

The Captain shook his head clear. Why did he care how Loki looked? He's a criminal. Why does he feel guilty about last night? The god seemed fine. Thor never suspected anything about the incident. Then why did in the pit of his stomach feel off-put about doing this? He was pulled from his thoughts by Tony calling out.

"Starting up again!"

The machines gears turned louder as the power was cranked up.

"Now remember, Rudolph," Tony had to yell over the noise, "Just grab the pear and stay put!"

The god didn't say anything, but the deepening scowled let them know he understood his mission.

Then, with a burst of blue light and a loud bang, Loki was gone.

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After a dizzying ride, Loki felt his feet land on the floor. He waited for the nausea to subside before opening his eyes. He was standing in the middle penthouse. In the far corner of the massive room was the kitchen. It all looked normal. The only off-putting thing was the way the edges of the room had an odd white glow. It was almost as if he were to walk out of the room, he would fall into a white void of space. Loki new how voids in space felt… he'd rather avoid it.

A bowl of fruit sat on the kitchen counter. In the bowl, was the pear. But, just then, blue lights started to spark around him. Loki realized that meager seconds he took to recover from being transported ate up his time. He knew he now had only seconds to get over there to grab the pear.

Loki was so focused on making it in time, he started to sprint. It was a bad move as the chains around his feet didn't reach the length of his gait. Loki let out an audible gasp as the chains pulled taught and he fell forward. At that moment, the blue light around him increased. He then felt the familiar feeling of being squeezed through a tight tube.

He was being transported back.

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"He should be returning within the second," Bruce stated, staring at his watch.

On cue, a glowing portal appeared above the platform. A second later, Loki came falling out. He skidded past the platform and landed in a crumpled heap a few feet away. The god only let out a soft moan on the impact, his eyes squeezed shut from the overall pain of the transportation and landing.

Bruce and Steve immediately rushed over to the fallen god. Too afraid to touch him, they just came close and looked him over for any major injuries.

Loki just waited for the worst of the pain to pass before pushing himself to his hands and knees. He blinked his eyes slowly open and looked around, temporarily confused.

_Back in the lab?_

Gritting his teeth to hide his pain, Loki stood up as gracefully as he could with the chains on. He noticed the mortal's expressions. Banner and Rogers looked just plain shocked to see him appear just like that. Stark, however, showed no hint of concern.

Tony just stared at him with his arms crossed, "Did you grab the pear?"

At that moment, Loki snapped. He's been thrown around twice now trying to help these stupid humans. He was tired of it. Now they have the gall to ask him where their stupid fruit was?

"No, I did not! You overshot the landing! Now you expect me to be able to sprint across the room to the table in a matter of seconds?! All while bound in these ridiculous chains, might I add!"

"Whoa, whoa! Calm down!" Tony put his hands up defensively, "At last, you made it at the intended location this time."

Still flaring his nostrils at the man, Loki took a breath to calm down. He knew getting mad would only make things worse.

"Don't worry," Bruce said. He was relieved to see the god returned relatively unharmed. Not that he cared though. He thinks… "We'll figure out something."

At that second, Loki had an idea.

"If you want to guarantee I can get to it," Loki paused to hold to his wrists, the chains jingled, "You should remove my binds."

"Not going to happen!" Steve jumped in. There was no way he'd allow the god to be unrestrained.

"Then how do you expect me to reach the item without falling again?" Loki countered.

"Gotta admit he has a point."

Steve whipped around to hearing Tony's comment, "Are you seriously considering freeing him?"

"We're technically not going to remove it," Bruce comes in and explained, "We'd just take off the chains. The cuffs will stay attached so he can't use his magic."

_What's this? _Loki smiled to himself._ Am I sensing a little hint of trust?_

Rogers pursed his lips and looked at his teammates in concern. Then, turning to the god, he thought through his options. He came to realize he had no other options. Loki could very well attack them upon being unchained. But then he remembered the god was also drained some of his strength by the cuffs. They've had to wrestle with him before on occasion. It wasn't an easy fight, but each time he could still overpower Loki after a while.

"Fine," Steve agreed reluctantly before looking at Loki, "But know you are being watched carefully."

Loki gave a mischievous smile, "So little faith in me, Captain? I am truly hurt."

Rogers grit his teeth and approached the god. Both Bruce and Tony just looked on anxiously. Loki, however, just gave a small smile and held out his arms. Steve hoped his friends were watching Loki carefully as he undid his wrists and bent down to do his ankles.

Loki never made any attempts to escape or attack. He waited patiently for the human to remove the chains and stand up.

Now, with that aside, they could continue.

"Alright," Bruce said, he walked over back to the control panel and typed a few things, "Let's see if changing these numbers will send you closer to the table."

They set things up and Loki stood back on the platform. Even with the semi-freedom off the chains off Loki was still nervous. Each time he transported left him feeling ill. His stomach hasn't even recovered from last time.

Before he knew it, the machine started up again and he was gone within the second.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Loki appeared again in the room. As soon as his feet landed on the ground, his legs buckled. Landing on his hands and knees, a burst of pain filled his body.

_This can't be good. _Loki winced.

Trying to ignore the pain for a moment, Loki looked at his surroundings. At least he was sent closer to there location. He landed about ten feet from the table. Everything else looked the same. The edges of the room still had that odd fuzzy, white border and the table still had the bowl of fruit.

Loki wasted no time; he knew he had none. He gripped a countertop right next to him to help hoist himself up. He couldn't tell if he was going to pass out, throw up, or both. The motion to stand up proved too painful. Loki couldn't help but cry out and slump back to the floor. Stretching out his stomach hurt too much. It felt immensely better to stay wrapped in a tight ball.

_What did they do to me?_

The sparks started up again. He already was running out of time. Loki had to make the decision to either stay still and accept it or push past the pain and run. Not being one to accept defeat, the god chose the latter. Loki didn't have far to go. All he had to do was stand up, walk a few feet, and grab the pear.

_Simple. _He thought.

He took a deep breath and grabbed the counter again. Bracing himself, Loki hoisted his body up again. As he stood up, it was as though his organs stretched with him. Loki bit back a cry and only allowed a whimper to escape instead. He decided it was less painful to stay hunched over as he walked rather than up straight. His hand slid along the counter, supporting a lot of his weight. As the bile rose in his throat, he had to swallow it back.

_I need to get that damn fruit! Without it, they will lose their trust in me. Then I'll never get out of this Hel hole. _

Loki's knees shook dangerously, threatening to buckle again. His slow, unsteady gait wasn't fast enough. The portal sparks grew too strong and started to obscure his vision. Slowly, Loki couldn't see the pear anymore. At that point, he knew he wasn't going to make it in time.

The room spun as the portal dragged him back.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

The air where Loki was sparked and swirled blue. The lights vanished revealing Loki exactly where he disappeared. His clothes were still intact and not torn up— that was a good sign. The only thing they noticed was that the god immediately stumbled off the platform and to catch himself on the desk next to him before he fell. None could see Loki's head as bowed down, his hair shrouding his face from their view. He took long, shaky breaths as if he just ran a marathon.

"Did you seriously not get the pear again?!" Tony yelled at him from afar. He could see the god's hands were empty.

Loki barely looked up to acknowledge him. His green eyes flickered over at him through his raven hair. The first thing the mortal asks is about the damn fruit, not the fact he almost just face-planted on the floor.

Suddenly, the god appeared to have a shooting pain go up his body. His hand immediately came up to clutch his stomach. Loki inhaled sharply and let off a small hiss. It was the same pain he had before— only this time it was worse.

Bruce noticed Loki looked a few shades whiter than his usual pale complexion. The more he stood watching, the more he saw Loki squeeze his stomach harder. His other hand seemed to desperately grip the edge of the countertop as if he were to collapse if he were to let go.

Loki's body wracked with another tremor. This time, a more audible groan came from the god. Before Bruce could examine him from afar any further, Loki moved his free hand from his stomach to cover his face. He lurched forward before losing grip of the counter and falling to his knees. The fall caused the Avengers to jump in surprise. Loki threw out his hand and caught himself before hitting his face on the floor. He was now in an awkward seated position, his legs splayed out behind him. Loki screwed his eyes shut and kept his hand plastered over his face as another wave of pain came on.

"Loki… are you okay?" Bruce felt oddly conflicted as he stood there watching his enemy deal with this unknown pain. It was completely out of character for the god. The way Loki's shoulders sagged over and his shaky hand over his face. His Adam's apple bobbed up and down like he kept trying to swallow down something. It wasn't until the doctor noticed how Loki's skin started to match his green eyes when the realization finally washed over him. He knew what was about to happen next, and unless he wanted to be mopping the floor in the next few minutes, he needed to act fast.

"Somebody get a trash can," Bruce yelled as he turned to face the other Avengers. He could already hear Loki start gagging.

Steve was on it quickly and dashed to grab the wastebasket nearby. He skidded back over and slid it under Loki's hunched form. The god grabbed the edge of the container with both hands as support but kept gagging. He tried to hold it back. He didn't want to vomit, especially not in the presence of these humans. The bile shot up his throat faster than he could quell it back down. The pain caused him to heave forward and, unfortunately with that, expel his breakfast loudly into the trash.

Bruce stepped forward a little to check on him. He was still taken back by how he reappeared, still in one piece, only to then become so violently ill.

Loki's vomiting stopped, but he still leaned over the trash, breathing heavily. His long, black hair covered his face, making it hard for Bruce to see if he's alright. He made the decision to continue his approach.

"Loki, are you—"

Bruce was cut off by Loki starting to retch again. He winced and stood back as he threw up yet another time. The god's whole body was shaking uncontrollably with each heave, pained moans escaped in-between ragged breaths.

No one said anything for the longest time. They all had the same shocked expression to see the— usually poised— god draped over the trash puking his guts out.

Once Loki's body expelled everything that it could, it didn't stop; he continued to dry heave, painfully.

Bruce snapped out of his trance. Not saying anything, he quickly dashed over to the medicine cabinet in the far corner. He opened it and grabbed a bottle of Pepto Bismol. He remembered putting it in here when Tony complained of heartburn all the time while working in his lab. Bruce tried to explain to the inventor that a healthy diet of pizza was probably the culprit. Tony, of course, disagreed. So, this was all he could offer.

He poured out some of the pink liquid into the lid cap and walked over to the god, who was trying to suppress any more dry heaves. Loki's arms were resting on the edge of the trash can while his forehead was pressed against one arm. He lazily spat into the trash any residing bile in his mouth.

"Here, drink this," Bruce held out the cap of medicine, "This will help your stomach."

Loki tried to get his breathing under control before responding. He finally picked his head up from his crouched position over the trash can. The god's face was a sweaty mess. His long hair plastered to his pale skin. It was a miracle his hair didn't get any vomit in it.

It took a second for Loki's head to clear enough and register what just happened. It was then Loki shot up quickly to compose himself, but immediately started to stumble. Steve quickly rushed over, not thinking, and grabbed his arm to help stabilize him. The god was too busy to notice as he fought off the vertigo. His one hand was back up covering his face in hopes to stop the world from spinning.

"Hey, why don't you sit down," Steve suggested, trying to pull him into a nearby chair, "I don't want you passing out on us."

Loki pulled his hand away from his face after the nausea had finally passed. His stomach was still queasy, but at least he knew he wasn't going to throw up anymore— not like he had anything left in his stomach. It took him a few seconds before he realized Rogers was touching him.

Appalled, Loki ripped his arm out of his grip.

Steve allowed him his arm back with no resistance. He did, however, watch him carefully to make sure the god didn't topple over upon release.

"Loki," Bruce said as he set down the medicine and hesitantly approached, "What happened?"

Loki was nervous to respond. He failed again. This time, he failed because he was weak. The magic-binding cuffs are assumed to blame for it. Now he has to explain to them what happened without seeming weak. The vomiting, however, didn't help his case.

He smoothed his hair back and fixed his posture. Even though he didn't feel confident, he had to look it. Loki took one last shuttered breath before speaking up.

"Your calculations this time were incorrect. It was not in location but transport. The portal you opened was too small, too stretched. It was at the point of collapse as I reached the destination," Loki lied smoothly. They couldn't know that the transport was fine, and it was all just his pathetic body failing him.

Bruce believed him and nodded understandingly. Both Tony and Bruce were pushing the limits of time and space with this machine. The results back when they did it with the pair were never this drastic. That was with an inanimate object, and not a person, however.

They could hear Tony groan frustratedly. He had pulled back up the projection screens and was dragging the holograms around.

"Give me ten minutes to sort out this mess," he muttered, "Then we'll try again."

_Again? _Loki swallowed back down a new wave of nausea. He started to wonder if this all was worth it. Maybe it would be best to just rot away in his pathetic excuse for a room. Death by boredom is better than death by being torn apart and scattered across the galaxy.

"Wait…"

The voice pulled Loki from his thoughts. It was Banner. The man was fidgeting with his hands nervously.

"We want to make sure it's right this time. Let's not rush this. Give it a day to plan this next test. I-it will give Loki a chance to recover from today."

Loki's eyebrow twitched. _Sentiment?_

"But we're so close!" Tony whined loudly.

This project was Tony's world now. His next Iron Man suit was put on the sidelines for this. The creation of time-travel was scientifically impossible. And here, Tony and Bruce have made it possible— to some extent. They can singlehandedly alter catastrophic events from ever happening. Of course, with time-travel, comes with the "Butterfly Effect"; the possibility of changing the past might alter the future negatively. All these were things to consider… once they could get the damn thing operational.

"I'm with Bruce on this," Steve added out of the blue.

This got a reaction out of Loki. His headshot over in Steve's direction.

_That was unexpected._

The Captain hasn't shown much compassion for the god. In fact, not many words have even been exchanged between them.

Tony pushed his bottom lip forward to pout. It was another setback. He had to admit though, he was sure Steve was on his side. Tony then thought maybe he went too far. Steve has strong morals. If he were to side with the god, maybe it was overboard.

He couldn't help but glance over at the god. Loki's head was back down with his eyes downcast on the floor awkwardly. Tony could tell he was hating all the attention on him. The god was still paler than usual and covered in a layer of sweat. If he knew any better, Tony would say he even had a slight tremble to him.

Then, Tony felt something. It's an emotion he rarely feels, especially for a raging maniac… guilt. It was just the way the god looked, so pathetic and sickly. He knows he hasn't been easy in the guy— borderline torturous at times. Out of all the times to start feeling guilty… why now? Tony didn't feel this when they force-fed him, or when he made the god piss himself… not even the last few tests of the machine.

"Okay, okay," Tony put his hands up in defeat, "I admit, I went too far."

He looked over at Loki before talking again.

"Take the rest of the day off, Rudolph. You kinda look like shit."

Loki showed no emotion but, on the inside, he let out a big sigh of relief.

"We'll let Thor know you're not feeling well," Bruce said, "I think it's time we brought him into this—"

"Do not speak of this to my brother," Loki said bluntly. The last thing he wants is Thor getting part of this. He already felt like his brother was attached to his hip; he could never shake him off.

"If you don't want us to, we won't," Bruce hesitated before speaking, "Unless this gets out of hand."

Loki rolled his eyes. He felt like he was treated like a child again. It was something he never wanted.

"I wish to be taken back to my chambers," Loki stated.

"Actually, instead of taking you to your room, I want to take you to the infirmary. I'm worried the Tesseract might have something to do with these side-effects."

"I'm fine," Loki frowned, "Do not concern yourself with such trivial things."

"You just puked in the trash can! Pretty violently might I add. I'd hardly consider that fine," Bruce pointed out as if Loki has forgotten the whole incident.

"Aww let him go, Bruce," Tony said. He waved his hand dismissively, "It's probably just the space jump messing with him. We'll work out the kinks for next time."

"But—"

"I hate to say it, but Stark is right," Loki reluctantly admitted. He just wanted to get Banner off his back, "It was just the effects of space travel. It is very similar to the Bifrost in that sense. Sometimes the gravitational pull of it may cause some to be… ill."

"Oh… alright then," Bruce said, not completely convinced.

"Now, if you will escort me back to my chambers, I wish to retire for the day."

Tony stayed behind to continue working on his project while Bruce and Steve escorted Loki back. They both silently agreed that they didn't need to put the chains back on the god during transportation. They were correct. Loki never showed any hostility, in fact, he didn't say a word. Bruce even noticed the god's pace was quite fast as if he was rushing to get out of the lab as fast as possible.

Once arriving at Loki's room, Steve stayed at the doorframe while Bruce walked the god in further. As much as Banner wanted to just dart out after bringing him back, that horrible guilt was there to remind him not to.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Bruce pressed, trying to get Loki's attention, "How about I bring you some of that Pepto Bismol. It will help calm your stomach. After that, I can grab you a bowl of soup. That usually hel—"

"I said I am fine," Loki turned and snapped at the man before he could finish. He quickly collected himself before he spoke again, "Why do you even fret over someone like me? I am not exactly an ally."

"Well, you are helping us… which I appreciate, I guess," Bruce said as he rubbed the back of his neck nervously. He, himself, didn't quite know exactly why he felt for Loki. Might it just be the guilt?

"Then it makes sense now," the god concluded, "I see how it would be an **inconvenience** to lose me."

Banner flinched. Loki misinterpreted his words in the wrong way.

"N- no! Not like that!"

"Let us be honest, mortal," Loki turned his shoulders to squarely face him. The god looked more intimidating now, "We both are not particularly fond of each other. I am, unfortunately, the Avengers '_pet'_ and there is nothing I can do, except follow orders."

Bruce didn't have any good response to that.

"Just… just tell JARVIS if you need anything," he sighed and looked up, "JARVIS, if Loki feels sick, allow him access to the bathroom."

—I_ will make sure to, sir.—_

"You know what… just give him full access. He's proven himself," Bruce said. He gave Loki a worried look, "Just… please don't make me regret it."

Loki gave him no indication of a yes or no. He was still sour about the whole situation.

_You mortals better give me back access. Especially after what you put me through. _

The doctor gave the god one last look, "Are you sure I can't get you anything?"

Loki denied his offerings. Bruce decided that was his signal to leave him alone. But he couldn't help but feel guilty. It drove him mad that he felt that way. He had to keep telling himself to not get any type of emotional attachment to the god— good or bad.

Bruce walked out and Steve closed the door behind him.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"I'm back! I've brought your dinner," Thor eagerly called out as he entered the room.

Out of routine, the older god started setting up the table. He could see Loki in the corner of his eye on the couch. Curled up with his knees to his chest, holding a book. His brother wasn't actually reading the book but watching Thor at the table.

"Rogers did not say why, but he offered me to give you some soup he made. 'Twas quite odd actually. He never makes soup," Thor thought for a second, "They must be warming up to you, brother! I only hear good things from them!"

The younger god ignored that last comment.

"The offer is appreciated, but I'm not hungry."

"Loki," Thor warned, "You know our arrangement…"

Loki rolled his eyes for what seemed the hundredth time today.

"This is not resistance to go against that. I am just truly not hungry tonight."

"What is wrong? Are you ill?" Thor's face suddenly filled with worry. Maybe all these days spent with his friends are too much for him? The cuffs do drain his energy with his magic. Maybe that's affecting him too much?

"No," Loki looked down at his book, "I just spent all day with those mortals and wish to retire early tonig—"

Before he could finish, Thor's hand rested against his forehead before he could react.

"Hmm… you do seem a little warm?"

Loki swatted his hand away and stood up.

"I'm not ill, you oaf!"

With the book now tossed aside, Loki made some distance from his brother's reach.

"Then tell me why you are not hungry?!" Thor insisted impatiently.

"I told you! It was a long day. I'm too tired to eat. I just wish to rest. Happy now?!"

Loki's comment made him back down. Thor didn't want to make him angry.

"I see," he paused for a second, "Well, I hope things are going well for you working down there."

Loki scoffed, "It is as good as it will ever be."

Thor dropped the subject and let Loki skip his meal and get ready for bed. Sitting in one of the chairs, he was relieved so far to hear that the Avengers were eager to get his help. Now, they even gave him access back to his bathroom. That meant his brother was getting better.

Loki exited the bathroom without even acknowledging his brother. Already dressed in a loose shirt and sweatpants for nightwear, he climbed straight into bed, facing away from Thor. He pulled the covers up over his shoulders and said nothing.

"Goodnight, brother. I hope you rest well."

Thor left after he got no response from his brother. Then, after hearing the door close, Loki let out his held breath.

_Finally, alone. _

An ebbing pain flared up in his abdominal again. Loki pulled his knees to his stomach. The pain hasn't stopped since the incident.

_Each time I test that horrid device, I come back worse than before. _

It took a few hours before Loki could completely relax. Slowly, the pain subsided after he stayed in a fetal position long enough.

It was obvious… they will want him again tomorrow. He wondered how many more times they will have to test it before it will work completely.

_It can't get any worse. _

The exhaustion was just too much and Loki immediately fell into a deep sleep.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

**Next Chapter:** Is There a Doctor in the House?

Word Count: 7,292

Written On: 12-1-19

Updated On: 4-7-20

Posted On: 4-7-20


	5. Test Number Three

A/N: This past, long hiatus is brought to you by **Depression**. Even though this chapter was almost finished, that lovely _mental health _forbade me from finishing. Hopefully… with this new-found discipline… I will push past it and continue.

Seeing all the wonderful reviews, follows, and Kudos on both FanFiction and Ao3 make me smile. Just know that I am trying my hardest to right forward.

—This was supposed to be one long chapter, (coupled with the upcoming one) but I wanted to get you this sooner.

Xo Anonymityofaturtle

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Loki woke up the next day not feeling much better. He spent most of the night with on and off stomach pains with little sleep in between. Loki was serious when he swore if the mortals didn't get it right **this** **time**, that he would just flat out strangle them for all the pain they've caused him.

It wasn't long after he had gotten up and showered that Thor came in with breakfast.

—

"Good morning, brother!" Thor greeting too chipper for Loki to tolerate. The younger brother was sitting in the chair in the corner of the room with a random book—again, not _really_ reading it.

The waft of oatmeal caught Loki's senses and immediately made his stomach churn. That was the last thing he wanted. Last time he had it, it was not a pleasant thing to come back up.

"How do you fare today?" Thor said as he set the tray of food at the table.

Loki sighed quietly and shut his book.

_No point evading the inevitable, I suppose. _

"Fair enough," he replied. Loki had to stand up carefully to not get the painful pull in his stomach. Thankfully, it was slight enough that Thor couldn't notice.

"That is good then!" Loki's brother replied happily. Thor pulled out Loki's chair for him and sat down himself. He served the food off the plate as Loki came to join him.

Loki sat and saw the ginger tea sitting in front of him. He immediately took it in his hands, hoping it would settle his stomach.

Thor looked back up at him eagerly.

"Loki, you would not believe what happened this morning!"

Raising his brow as Loki took a sip of the hot tea. He paused to enjoy its soothing properties before replying.

"Care to enlighten me?" he asked.

The older god looked as if he almost couldn't contain his excitement.

"I came into the kitchen to prepare our breakfast and was approached by the Captain!" Thor started.

Loki took another sip of tea and curiously listened.

"He came to me and said he'd be happy to make both you and I breakfast!" Thor continued with a smile on his face, "He even asked what you liked, and he would prepare that. Could you believe that?!"

Loki set his mug down.

_The guilt must be getting to the Good Captain. _he thought to himself. _As if the small gesture could possibly forgive his actions in the lab, along with the others…_

"Such a kind gesture for his prisoner," Loki stated with a sour tone.

"No, brother!" Thor looked hurt by his Loki's perception of his friend's generous offer, "He sees you as an ally now, a friend!"

Loki rolled his eyes, unconvinced. It made Thor frowned.

"Let us finish our meals and you will see for yourself when you see him," Thor said.

As Thor started to dig into his breakfast, Loki drank the rest of his tea. Not even wanting to look at the meal in front of him. The drink was somewhat helping his nausea and calming the cramps.

"Are you still feeling ill?" Thor spoke up, his mouth full of food.

Loki realized his brother had noticed his avoidance of the oatmeal. The last thing he wanted was any more worry from Thor. Though an excuse was hard to make… Loki had used them all up in his past conversations with him.

"A little, but it is getting better," Loki said as he set his cup down, "So don't fret over it."

"If you are not feeling well, then maybe you shouldn't see the others today. It is best for you to rest. Maybe even see Banner," Thor replied, concerned about his brother's odd, prolonged sickness.

That was an immediate '**no**' from Loki. He didn't want to hold off these tests and trails any longer. The sooner they are done, the sooner he could put his plan into action. It has not been easy for him, but he can tell they are slowly starting to trust him— some more than others. The doctor, Loki knows, is the easiest to win over with his sympathy.

"It must be something I ate," Loki lied with a huff, "You know how these Midgardians put unnecessary chemicals in their food."

Thor made an uncomfortable hum noise. He was not liking this one bit. His brother refused to go to Dr. Banner for his symptoms and just wanted to push through it. The behavior was typical for Loki, but Thor felt something off. He's angry he didn't notice before. Since Jane was in town, that's all he focused on. Thor couldn't even remember the last time he's seen her. He let that blind him of his duties as a brother.

"Are you positive?" Thor asked skeptically.

"Ugh, yes of course," Loki rolled his eyes dramatically, "The tea you brought was fine."

"Very well. But don't be hesitant to talk to Banner. You know he will be more than happy to assist you."

"Yes, yes," Loki dismissed with a hand wave, "I'll be fine while you go off and gallivant with your mortal woman."

"Oh, but I am not seeing Jane today," Thor stated.

Loki looked at him confused. That is all he's been doing for the past few days.

"Then where are you going?" Loki inquired.

"Nowhere," Thor replied, "I am accompanying you to Stark's lab."

_Oh, now he cares!?_

"Why?" Loki frowned. _Out of all the times he wants to be together… it's now?!_

"Why? Because I care about you, brother. I feel guilty to leave you here all the time," Thor's face softened, "I do not know what is going on with you, but you seem… _different_."

"I don't know what you're talking about?" Loki said, brushing him off. He stood up out of his chair and pushed it in. They might as well leave and get this over with.

"Do you think I don't notice you sleep more and eat less?" Thor's voice grew a bit louder, "Something is bothering you, and I want to **help**!"

"You cannot **help**, because there is nothing to help _with_," Loki spat back.

Thor stood up out of his chair abruptly and strode over to his brother. Loki took a step back in the uncertainty of Thor's next action. To his surprise, Thor just cupped the nape off his neck in a familiar gesture. Strangely, Loki could not help but flinch.

Thor noticed and frowned.

"You know I would do anything for you. You know, that right?" he said.

Loki knew those words were one-hundred percent true. Thor would do anything for him. It was a blessing and a curse at times.

"Yes, I know," Loki replied with a straight face.

Thor stared at Loki hard. The younger brother, feeling uncomfortable, finally pulled his head out of Thor's grasp. He walked to the bathroom, muttering how he needed to fix his hair and try to look more presentable before they left. Loki ignored Thor as he heard his brother follow.

The older brother stood at the doorframe, arms crossed, waiting for him. While Loki was smoothing his hair back, Thor couldn't help but notice Loki's sleeve had slipped down. It revealed a large bruise on his forearm. He was immediately alarmed by it.

"Where did you get that?" Thor blurted out.

Loki turned to him, taken back to his brother's random, loud demand.

"Get what?!"

Thor strode up to him again, but this time he was angry. Loki turned and faced him, taking a bigger step back than before.

"What are you—" Loki didn't have enough time to ask before Thor grabbed his wrist. The younger brother tried to jerk his hand free… but failed.

"Thor, let go!" Loki snarled. He tried again to free himself, but Thor held him in a vice-grip.

"Where did you get this?" Thor asked again. He lifted Loki's wrist causing his sleeve to slip down again. The older brother pointed at the large, purple bruise that went down his forearm.

Loki didn't respond. He knew exactly where that came from. It was from yesterday when he was shot back out of the portal in their second attempt and the time-machine. It was a nasty bruise that had yet to go away. The magic-binding cuffs didn't just drain him of energy and magic, it reduced his healer factor too. But Loki wasn't about to tell Thor that. The fact he was shackled in general made his brother pity him enough.

Loki cursed to himself for letting his guard down. He had to play this off smoothly.

Loki stared at Thor blankly.

"I tripped."

"Why did you not tell me this?!" Thor asked, still upset. At the very least he gave his brother his arm back.

Loki pulled his arm to his chest and held it close like Thor's touch disgusted him. He cocked his brow and couldn't help but give a playful smile.

"Well, I'm telling you now. Am I not?"

"That doesn't count!"

"Norns, Thor!" Loki raised his voice to meet his brother's, "Do you expect me to tell you every time I get the smallest cut?! Last time I checked you are not Mother!"

"I am just having a hard time **believing** you _tripped_," Thor retorted.

"What do you think I did then?" Loki yelled back, confused.

Thor didn't back down to him. He stood in place looking down at his brother.

"I am starting to wonder if it is no **you**," the older god said, "But **whom**?"

"Do you think someone did this to me?!" Loki, mentally nervous, pretended to be shocked.

"Well, it would not be the other way around as I would have heard about it," Thor explained.

Loki paused and stared at his brother with a straightest of face. It wasn't more than a few seconds before he cracked a smile.

"What is so funny?" Thor looked back at him, dumbfounded. How could this conversation be amusing in the slightest?

"You honestly think your little, mortal friends could hurt me?!" Loki laughed, "Now, Thor, I thought you were smarter than that!"

"On purpose or accident, something hurt you," Thor said, "Why do you hide the truth."

"I'm not! I tripped!" Loki repeated.

He strode past Thor out of the bathroom. Loki wasted no time as he approached the front door and spun around.

"Let us go then," he said, holding up his arms for his brother to attach the chain.

Thor caught up to Loki and, to his brother's surprise, walked past and just opened the door for Loki to walk out. The younger god put down his arms, confused.

"No chains today, I see," he raised a brow.

"Indeed, it seems you have gained much of the Avengers trust with your help," Thor said flatly.

"Then why the face, Brother?" Loki asked before smirking, "Jealous?"

"No, not jealousy…" Thor replied, **"Suspicion**. You are hiding something, and I do not like it."

"Have a little more faith in me…" Loki said, still smiling. He took up Thor's chivalry and walked out the door, "…your friends sure do."

Thor huffed. Loki's words would not fool him. He would find out the truth sooner or later. The older god jogged to catch his brother, who was already down the hall.

As they walked, they kept quiet. Loki may have appeared calm in the outside but, on the inside, just begged this next test run with the Tesseract will be a success. He didn't need Thor to witness all the drama that's been going on. There's was no telling what the Thunderer would do if he saw it. Loki thought through the possible reactions he might have. The worse would be if he were to drag him back to Asgard as he couldn't trust his friends.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Tony, Steve, and Bruce all stopped what they were doing when the two brothers entered the lab. Tony was on the ground working on the transport platform with Steve hovering over handing him tools. Bruce was at the main control center writing down Tony's comments on a clipboard.

"Good 'morrow, my friends," Thor waved. In doing so, his arm wrapped around Loki's shoulder and gave him a squeeze. It caused his younger brother to get pulled closer to his sibling with it. Thor ignored the irritated growls from Loki.

Tony crawled out from under the machine and rubbed the grease off his hands on to his pants. They've only been working on the device for a few hours. The self-proclaimed genius had hoped they would have taken a little longer to get down here—_Oh well_.

"Well, thanks for dropping off baby brother here," Tony said as he walked over to Bruce to look at the notes on the clipboard, "We'll make sure he gets his nap time."

Thor didn't take offense to Tony's distracted mind, or his jab at Loki. Little did his friends know that Thor had other plans for today.

"Actually, I have decided to stay," the Thunderer said.

Tony, Bruce, and Steve all gained immediate attention to Thor after that statement.

"Stay?" Tony repeated in question.

"Yes," Loki added with a grumble. The look he gave the Avengers was very telling that he himself wasn't pleased about the decision, "My brother decided to join us and observe our… _progress_."

"Oh," Tony replied, swallowing uncomfortably, "Uhh okay, sure…"

"I'm very eager to see what Loki has been up two these past few days," Thor chimed in.

He gave Loki another little side hug in emphasis before continuing.

"From the sounds of it all, it seems you have made great strides with your small Bifrost device."

The three Avengers looked at each other… and each had the same thought. These trials haven't been successful. If today were to backfire again, Thor would see. And if Thor would see the mess that they put Loki through… he would surely strangle each and every one of them.

It was by thinking of Thor's reaction they realized all just how horrible they have been treating Loki. The worse part was Loki just took their abuse.

"It seems you've been working quite hard on it, yes?" Thor asked when no one responded.

"Uhh, yeah," Bruce spoke up. He looked back at the clipboard Tony's hands for something to help him out, "We were just… stabilizing the power connection by building an encasement around the main cable."

Thor seemed pleased with Bruce's explanation. Loki, however, saw right through it. He shook off Thor's arm off his shoulders and approached the Tesseract machine.

"Let us not waste any more time," Loki mumbled.

They all agreed to start the trial. The god was right. They were evading the inevitable. That is unless the Tesseract machine were to work. Tony expressed earlier he was feeling hopeful about it. Bruce still had his skepticisms. Trying to build a device using a seemingly magical cube wasn't a walk in the park. He wished they had listened to Loki in the first place when the god said it could be done. If they did, they wouldn't be in the situation they're in now.

As Loki stepped onto the platform, Bruce could help but notice, ever so slightly, that Loki walked rather gingerly.

_This is a bad idea._ he said to himself. _It's not too late to say something…._

Just then, Loki looked over and saw the nervous doctor fidgeting. As Bruce opened his mouth to speak, Loki shook his head. Bruce could see by Loki's face that he knew that he was about to speak up against doing this. It just didn't make sense to him why Loki was doing this to himself?

"Everything good on your end, Brucie?"

Tony's voice pulled Bruce back to reality. His teammate was standing next to him staring at him skeptically. Steve, a few steps back, seemed more in tune with how the doctor was feeling.

"Oh, umm yes," Bruce replied as he pushed numerous buttons on the control pad in front of him, "The battery is stabilized, and the machine is at full-power."

The Tesseract lit up the room as the machine activated. It sent a small pulse of power into the room, causing the lights to flicker once.

"Alright, Twinkle Toes," Tony yelled over the engines, "You know the program. Just get the pear and secure it back."

Loki squinted his eyes at the nickname but nodded, nonetheless.

_Easier said than done, mortal. If any of the humans were to have tested this device before me, it was obvious they would have perished. A pity._

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see his older brother giving him a thumbs up and mouthing, 'Good job!'

A pang of anxiety hit him then: one for what the machine might very well do to him; and second is Thor's reaction afterward. As much as Loki _wanted _to trust the Avengers fixed the device **this time**— he couldn't.

The light-emitting off the Tesseract becomes too bright to bare. Everyone shielded their eyes and the revving became louder and louder.

And, with a flash and a bang, Loki was gone.

Thor wasn't expecting Loki to up and disappear. He looked at the empty, smoking platform horrified.

"Where… where is he?" Thor stammered, his eyes widening in fear as he faced his friends.

"It's okay, Thor," Steve came over to calm him "Loki's done this before. He knows what he's doing."

Thor wasn't completely convinced this was a good idea now. He didn't know they were sending Loki places. For all Thor assumed, Loki was just helping _build_ the machine.

_Oh, brother. _Thor thought. _What have you gotten yourself into? _

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

It was an explosion of bright light and pain as Loki hit the oncoming ground face first. None of his landings have ever been graceful. At the very least, no one was there to witness it.

Upon recovery, to his surprise, he realized landed directly next to the kitchen table. Even better, Loki could see from his spot on the ground, the fruit bowl! Sitting on the very top, as if it were a prized idol, was the pear— _that damn pear!_

The pain was as unbearable as like last time. His only advantage was the only thing he needed to do was stand up… seems simple enough.

Loki wasted no time pulling his legs under him in a pathetic form of a child's pose in yoga. Using the table leg as support, he pulled himself up. He couldn't help but gasp in pain as the stretching of his body pulled something deep inside of him. It was torture. So, instead, he kept his mind focused on Thor. Pride surprisingly bubbled up inside of him when he imaged Thor patting him on the back as he had returned room from the portal with the pear in hand. The roar of the applause from the Avengers for successfully helping create a functioning mini-Bifrost. Then, Thor's hand would hold Loki's in his own and praise his brother again before unlocking the cuffs. All was forgiving and everything could be back to normal.

That is what he wanted, right? For things to go back to the way they were: before the attack of New York; before Thor's coronation; before… he _fell…_

His daydreaming fled from him when he got on his knees. Still holding onto the table to stabilize himself, Loki reached up over the tabletop to feel for the bowl; it was fortunate he was so tall. His fingers grazed over the edge of the bowl. Loki tried to continue to try to pull himself up with his other hand. Another pain surged through him causing his hand on the table leg to slip. As he crumbled back on the ground, his other hand ended up pulling the bowl with him and spilling its contents. Fruit rolled in all directions onto the table and falling onto the floor. Loki just laid there with his eyes screwed shut in rage.

_I failed… again. _What will Thor think? Maybe he'll be sent back to Asgard for his failure to do anything right. Loki will just waste away in the dungeons in the bowels of the place for the rest of his days.

It was then the god felt something bump his arm, he snapped his eyes open immediately. Laying there, right in front of him, was the pear. Out of all the directions the fruit rolled about, it was the pear that came to a stop right in front of him.

Loki couldn't believe it. Immediately, he grabbed the fruit in a death grip. He wasn't about to lose it now.

With only the little strength he had left, Loki pushed himself back on his feet. He hoped that he would at least stay upright when he reappeared back at the tower.

In a matter of seconds, Loki was engulfed in the bright blue light and vanished.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

The first sense Loki got that he returned was the familiar sizzling sound of the transport device powering down again. It was a surprise to him he was still standing after this test. The transport podium let off a lot of steam and smoke, surrounding Loki for a minute.

_The pear! _Loki immediately thought to himself.

He looked down and noticed, through the smoke, his hand was still fisted. It took all the energy he had left to lift his arm and unclench his fist. And sitting there, in the palm of his hand, wasn't a full pear… but four tiny _seeds_. Loki knew for a fact he never let go of it.

_What—?_

Loki had no time to ponder the reasoning behind the change before another surge of familiar pain hit him again, causing him to double-over. The seeds slipped out of his hand, scattering along the platform below. One arm clutched his stomach while the other held steadily on his thigh from preventing him from crumbling over completely.

Nobody saw the events that just happened as the smoke and bright lights finally dissipated to reveal Loki's arrival from the Avengers. All they saw was the god hunched over in a seemingly extreme amount of pain.

Thor was the first to speak up. He made his way forward to get a better look.

"Loki?"

Loki started to sway. His legs trembled as he fought to stay upright. He placed his hand to his head as black spots danced in his vision. The nausea returned full force, but the god desperately tried to swallow it back down.

_No, not here… not now. _Loki tried so hard to make sure none of this happened when Thor was around.

"Loki, brother, are you okay?" Thor asked. He was standing at the bottom of the platform, inching closer a little seeing Loki's stance looked unstable.

"I-I just need to… sit d-down…" that all Loki was able to fumble out before his legs gave way and everything went black. Thankfully, a pair of strong hands caught him before he hit the floor. Thor had burst forward at the last second.

The older brother gently bent down and settled his sibling in his arms on to the floor. Loki's head lolled unconsciously to the side limply as he did so.

"Loki?! Loki?!" Thor shook him carefully to try to rouse him. His attempts were for nothing as Loki failed to wake.

The other Avengers ran over quickly and circled the two on the floor. Bruce knelt down, ignoring his usual fear of touching Loki, and put two fingers on his neck.

_A pulse_! Bruce exhaled in relief._ Thank goodness!_

"Why did this happen!?" Thor panicked as Bruce pulled away. Even though the doctor stated his brother had a steady pulse, Thor was still rightfully horrified to this ordeal.

"Has this happened before!?" he asked again with urgency.

The other three Avengers anxiously shifted in their spots as their friend turned to each of them for answers.

"Well, I mean, he's puked before… but never passed out," Tony shrugged his shoulders awkwardly, effectively putting his foot in his mouth.

Thor whipped his head directly to Stark, not expecting that to come out of his mouth. Not only that, but both Bruce and Steve also glared daggers at the so-called "genius" as well.

"My brother got ill?!" Thor gaped, then quickly grew furious, "When?!"

Tony flinched and realized he shouldn't have opened his big mouth.

"Oh, umm… well," he fumbled his words to get some sort of explanation out.

"What is the meaning of this!?" the thunder god roared causing the three to flinch again. The mortals' attempts at hiding secrets were becoming obvious. It was clear now that they were involved in Loki's odd behavior lately.

"Thor," Bruce called out to gain his attention, still examining Loki, "We need to focus."

Both Thor and Tony immediately snapped their mouths shut and turned to the doctor.

Steve, who has said nothing out of pure shock of the situation, stood on anxiously.

"How can we help?" the Captain asked.

Bruce saw the sweat forming on Loki's brow. He could already tell by feeling his pulse that he was abnormally hot. According to Thor, the god already was supposed to run very cold due to his _heritage_…

Bruce pushed himself up and looked at Thor.

"We need to take him to the sickbay."

Thor quickly responded and bundled up his Loki in his arms. It terrified him just how light he has gotten.

Together, they all rush to the tower's infirmary.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

**Next Chapter:** Is There a Doctor in the House?

Word Count: 4,378

Written On: 1-1-20

Updated On: 8-6-20

Posted On: 0-0-20


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